The Amazing Spider-Girl
by MidnightBravery
Summary: ON HIATUS. After Beca Mitchell is bitten by a genetically-altered spider, she gains new-found, spider-like powers and ventures out to solve the mystery of her father's mysterious disappearance. When all roads lead back to Oscorp, Jesse's father's company, what happens when Beca discovers what really happened to her father and what secrets Norman Osborn is hiding.
1. Chapter 1

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 1

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Four year old Beca Mitchell sat on the very bottom step of her house with her hands over her eyes, covering them._

" _Nine, Ten!" She bounced up and eagerly began to look around for her father, Francis Mitchell. She smiled as she quietly, tip toed into the foyer checking for any signs that her father had been in the room. She rolled up the sleeves to her sweater and peeked her head around the corner of the archway into the living room. She smiled as she saw brown suede shoes poking out from behind the curtain. As quietly as she could manage she crept over to the window._

" _Gotcha!" She yelled as she pulled the curtain open. However, she was met with an empty pair of shoes, no dad. She frowned as she looked around the room in confusion._

 _Walking into the hallway, the wooden floors creaked. Her sapphire eyes rested on the closet beneath the stairs. Once again she tip-toed over and placed her hand on the door knob. She quickly pulled the door open but once again was met with disappointment. She shut the door and turned, looking at the end of the hall, her father's study room._

 _A breeze was felt as Beca wondered why the window would be open this late at night. Curiosity got the better of her as she walked towards the room that she was never allowed to go in. The door was ajar, which also set an alarm off in Beca's little mind. 'Dad always shuts the door.'_

 _She pushed the door open with both hands, the door heavy for how small she was. Her dad was still nowhere to be found. She took a few steps in before she felt a crunchiness beneath her feet. She looked down to see several shards of glass, lying on the floor from the broken window._

" _Dad?!" Beca yelled through the house, she was starting to become scared now. A gust of wind caused several papers to fly across the room, one landing at her feet. Beca couldn't read but one thing that caught her attention was the picture of a black and red spider on the page. She picked the paper up looking at the spider and also at the two big numbers beside it. It wasn't like any number that her mom had taught her. No this number was like two zeros with a line through each of them._

" _DAD!" Beca yelled even louder as a crash of thunder filled the late night sky. Loud footsteps echoed in the house and grew nearer. Dr. Mitchell opened the door cautiously._

" _Beca you know you're not-" He trailed off mid-sentence as his eyes widen at the sight of his office. His desk was torn apart, papers and documents everywhere. His microscope slides were across the floor and the window had been broken. Wordlessly, he hurried over to his daughter, scooping her up into his arms. He set her down gently on the small chair in the corner as he went back over to his desk._

 _Her mother appeared in the doorway, a look of horror on her face. She pulled young Beca into her arms, cradling her to her chest. She watched as her husband scurried around the room. He stopped at his desk where he ripped out one of the drawers. He tossed the papers out of the way before grabbing a pencil and carefully looking across the wooden edge._

 _He pressed the end of the pencil into a secret hole and the top of the drawer slid open to reveal a false bottom with a folder hidden inside. From where she was resting on her mother's shoulder, Beca could just make out the same number zeros with lines through them._

" _Claire, we need to leave. Get Beca a bag packed for Ben and May's." Dr. Mitchell began to erase everything from his chalk board and grabbed the most important papers he could find. Beca's mother rushed them both her room where various articles of clothing were thrown haphazardly into a suitcase._

 _They rushed through New York in the pouring rain, driving to Beca's Uncle Ben and Aunt May's house in Queens. Her father carried her and her suitcase to the front door. Beca was told to play in the living room while her father and mother talked to her Aunt and Uncle. She peeked around the corner into the kitchen where the grown-ups sat at the wooden table. Her father was holding her mother's hand as he talked to Uncle Ben who was listening intently. Her Aunt May looked up to catch Beca's gaze and gave her a small, reassuring smile._

 _Five minutes later and her father and mother were crouching in front of her explaining how she'd be staying with her Aunt and Uncle for awhile._

" _I wanna go." Beca whined as her eyes filled with unshed tears. Her mother was crying at this point as she pulled Beca into yet another long hug. Her father ran his fingers through her hair as he kissed her on the head softly. He pulled away and gently pulled his wife to her feet as they stood in the doorway of the home._

" _We love you Beca. Be good." That was the last thing she ever heard her mother say to her. Claire Mitchell was sobbing as she walked through the door and back towards the car. Francis Mitchell paused and looked at his young daughter one more final time. Her gave her a sad smile as he nodded his head and followed his wife out of the house and to the car._

PRESENT

BECA POV

I slid the glass door of the display case open and plugged in the small black flash drive I carried with me. I stared at the screen as the high school's all girl choir picture was displaying. _The Bellas._ I had just finished editing the video last night, collages from their different performances, pictures of the group and added effects, all done last night. As part of working at the school's radio station, we had to keep the board updated with any type of music news from the school.

There were ten of them and they all were dressed in the same Bella uniform. They looked like flight attendants to be honest. Hair up in the tight bun, pin stripped suit and skirt, perfectly accessorized with the classic yellow and blue Bella scarf and topped off with high heels. I smirked as I looked at the blonde in the photo. Aubrey Posen. Junior class President, co-captain of the Bellas, first in her class, and her family was one of the richest in New York, right behind the Osborns. I'd say we're friends by association if anything, her best friend just happens to be one of my closest friends.

I let my eyes wander the screen as her picture showed up next on the slideshow. _'Chloe Beale, co-captain'_. Bright red hair and even brighter blue eyes were looking right back at me. We'd been friends for around three years now. When I'd first transferred to Midtown, she'd been the one to swarm the 'new kid'. Somehow she had managed to slowly chip my walls away that I'd so carefully built around me. I felt myself turn red remembering the first time that I'd really met her. She'd barged right into my stall in the showers one day after gym class Freshman year when she'd heard me singing Titanium, a track that I was planning to mix later that night. She demanded I join the Bellas, saying that they needed new people and were holding auditions the following morning. A part of me felt really guilty for not showing and letting her down, but choir just wasn't my thing. I mixed and mashed music...I didn't sing. Strange enough we'd been friends ever since.

"Mitchell!" I jumped as I looked and saw Bumper Allen, the school's biggest douche was heading towards me with his pack of idiots flanking his side. Bumper was captain of the wrestling team and not to mention in the school's all male choir group the 'Treblemakers'. I watched as Bumper faked like he was going to throw the football he was carrying at me.

"Boo!" He yelled at me as he pumped his arm forward. I didn't flinch as I rolled my eyes at him in annoyance. He and his buddies began snickering as I locked the display case back up. His buddy Donald knocked into my shoulder as they passed.

"Real funny Bumper." I mocked.

"Ah good morning Mitchell!" Bumper laughed as he smirked his ignorant smile at me. He and his crew walked past me and down the hall. I grabbed my bag and put my black matte Beats on over top of my ears. I threw my hoodie on my head as I tried to block out the obnoxiousness that was Midtown High School, I hated this school. I pushed my way through the various bodies in the hallway, ducking in-between shoulders, making my way outside to the school's courtyard. I smirked as I saw Chloe sitting at one of the many picnic tables with Aubrey reading a book. Chloe was wearing her light blue, ripped skinny jeans and a yellow strapless, flowy shirt. Her hair was falling freely over her shoulders in soft curls and she looked as flawless as ever. I watched as she peered up momentarily and caught sight of me.

"BECS!" Chloe jumped up from her spot at the table. I took my headphones off and hung them around my neck. I flinched as she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tightly into a hug. I still hadn't adjusted to Chloe's non-barrier personality, 3 years later, I had tried to keep myself distant but that was slowly going to shit. Chloe Beale was simply someone who you did not push away.

"Geez Beale, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you missed me." I winked at her as swatted my arm playfully. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Yeah I'm starting to wonder why now." Chloe shot back with a smirk on her face. We did these exchanges all the time, some kids in school even thought we were dating by how close we are.

"Ouch Beale. Stab to the heart." I feigned injury and put my hands on my chest for effect. Chloe laughed softly as she sat back down beside Aubrey and grabbed her Biology textbook and started to scribble some notes down. Aubrey had yet to look up from her own textbook, her glasses were perched on her nose and her eyes were furiously reading the content as she was in 'Posen Mode' as the group had coined it.

Just then we saw Jesse's Rolls Royce pulled to a stop at the half circle where students were dropped off. I watched as the students all stopped to gawk at the car, pointing and whispering to each other. His chauffeur quickly exited the car and made his way around to open the back door. I watched as Jesse quickly hopped out of the car and was on his way over to us, ignoring his father who had also gotten out of the car.

"Jesse!" I watched as Mr. Osborn yelled after his son holding a backpack in his hand. Jesse being the idiot that he was had clearly forgotten it. I watched the interaction as they talked. Low, hushed voices, and if looks could kill they'd both be 6 feet under from the other one's glare.

"You couldn't have just dropped me off around the block? You know I hate showing up to school in the Rolls." Jesse mumbled out, avoiding his father's gaze, determined to make this conversation short.

"Don't ever be ashamed of where you come from Jesse. You're an Osborn. People respect that, they fear it." I furrowed my eyes at Mr. Osborn's form of encouragement, talk about self-conceited.

"Jess!" I yelled as I walked over to the pair, trying to save Jesse from yet another disagreement with his father.

"Beca!" He looked at me excitedly, his eyes silently thanking me. I watched as Mr. Osborn eyed me up and down, taking in my appearance. Black clothes, multiple piecings, combat boots and my tattoos…I could feel the judgement.

"Jesse would you care to introduce me to your... friend here?" Jesse rolled his eyes at this, the pretend interest.

"Beca, this is my father, Norman Osborn. Dad-" Mr. Osborn outstretched his hand as I shook it, his grip was firm.

"Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure is all mine Rebecca." He said as he slightly bowed, his green eyes never left my own. Jesse cringed as he used the name, one that wasn't even true.

"Just Beca." I corrected him as he grasped my hand in both of his.

"Forgive me." A chill ran down my spine at his smile. For some reason, something inside of me was telling me to get out of there, like I shouldn't trust him. It was almost like being face to face with a snake.

"Bye Dad." Jesse turned and led us back towards our table, eager to leave the conversation.

"So Becaw, what's on the agenda for today?" Jesse asked as I laid my backpack on the ground and hopped up to sit on the top of the table, my feet resting on the wooden seat. Jesse jumped up and joined me as we looked across the court yard.

"Nothing much, just working on some mixes. Hopefully Luke will finally listen to one." I grumbled in annoyance. Jesse nodded as he scratched his head. "What about you?"

"Just homework. I was gonna try to spend some time with my dad, but after today…forget it. I think I might join you and Luke at the station." Jesse trailed off as he looked away. I nodded understanding, not trying to push the subject. Jesse's dad was Norman Osborn, founder and CEO of Oscorp Industries. He and his dad have always been rocky and constantly fighting. Jesse's always grown up with a feeling that he has to prove himself to his father, especially after he let it slip that he wants to score movies, something his father deemed was ludicrous. Jesse was trying everything he could to mend whatever was left of their relationship.

"So Blondie, what's got you nose deep in your textbooks today?" I changed the topic as Aubrey snapped her book shut and turned her attention to me.

"Some of us actually care about our education. Not like you would understand though right?" Aubrey's tone was stern, her voice challenging me as I smirked at her.

"Yeah you know me, I can't exactly hear what the teachers are saying because of...what is it you call them? My ear monstrosities?" I smirked at her as I heard Jesse and Chloe snickering quietly to themselves.

"That's right, you know it's probably the reason that you're so short Mitchell. All that metal is weighing you down, stunting your growth."

Jesse and Chloe both bursted out in laughter as I tightened my jaw. Jesse fist bumped Chloe as the two continued to laugh. Aubrey smirked at me and made a little 'hmph' sound as she sat back down at the table and opened her book again. Chloe and Jesse were still laughing as I sat down at the table and crossed my arms in front of me and glared.

"Oh come on Bec! That was her best one yet!" Jesse exclaimed as he was still doubled over.

"Face it Beca, she got you this round!" Chloe pointed at the blonde as her lips turned up into a smile.

"Whatever…" I mumbled out as I rested my head on my arms. "Do you guys still have that internship stuff today at Oscorp?"

"Yeah, every Tuesday and Wednesday we go in after school and help in the lab with Dr. Ratha. The new projects that we're starting are on Herpetology." Chloe answered for the pair of them.

"That's reptiles, in case you didn't understand." Aubrey shot at me, not once taking her eyes of the page. I stuck my tongue out at her as Chloe smiled and lightly nudged me.

"I still think it's weird that you both technically 'work' for me." Jesse said playing with his iPhone. Before the girls could respond a chant of 'Eat it!' was starting to grow louder from behind us. We all stood up, looking at each other confused. I led us towards a swarm of students as their chants got louder. There, in the middle of the circle of students was Bumper holding this kid named Gordon upside down over the table, pushing his face into a pile of food.

"Come on Gordon! Eat your vegetables!" Bumper shoved his face back into the food as his friends pointed and laughed, snapping some pictures on their phones.

"Put him down Bumper!" I yelled at him as I started to push past everyone.

"Beca wait, maybe-" Chloe's voice of reason became faded in the background as I stood in front of Bumper and Gordon. I looked behind me and saw that Jesse was in the middle of Chloe and Aubrey, both of whom looked worried. Chloe shot me a look and bit her lip, she had an idea of where this was going to go. And so did the rest of the student body.

"Come on Mitchell! Get this on video!" Bumper yelled again.

"Gordon don't, don't eat them." I looked down sympathetically to the smaller boy as I stepped closer. His mouth was shut and his glasses were starting to fall off his face.

"Get the video!"

"Put him down!" I yelled. " _Eugene!_ " I spread my arms wide as I smirked at him triumphantly. Everyone in the crowd had stop chanting and were now 'Ewwing' at the pair of us, the use of Bumper's real name being the breaking point. Bumper's eyes narrowed at me as he turned and dropped Gordon on the ground in front Donald. Bumper sent one last glare over his shoulder at me before he turned and started to walk away.

"Hey are you-" I hadn't even had time to finish my sentence when Bumper rounded on me.

"Beca watch out!" It was too late though, Bumper's fist had already connected with the left side of my face as I fell to the ground instantly. ' _Fight! Fight! Fight!'_ Rang through the crowd as I came to back to my senses. Bumper was smiling as he looked down at me.

"And stay down Mitchell!"

I stood up quickly and threw my entire body into his chest, knocking him to the ground. I straddled his torso and brought my fist down into his nose. A sickening crack rang out and blood was instantly oozing out of his nose. He grabbed one of my arms and threw me off to the side. I rolled once and landed at the feet of Jesse, who quickly helped me to my feet. I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth as a small trickle of blood made its way down my chin.

"Shoulda known that you'd play dirty Bumper, you're too big of a coward to fight face to face." Bumper went to grab at me again, his face set on revenge. I lunged once more but I felt a pair of arms, stronger than mine, wrap around my waist holding me backwards. I looked and saw that Jesse was trying to drag me away from the scene as I kicked and tried to break free from his hold.

"This isn't over Mitchell!" Bumper pointed at me as he too was being restrained. Donald and Greg were trying to talk some sense into him.

"-detention"

"-suspended _again."_ Just some of the words I could hear coming from their mouths but I was too angry to hear their reasoning.

"Beca _come on_!" Jesse hissed at me as I stopped fighting against him. I shrugged him off of me with a huff as I shot Bumper one last glare before turning and storming away from everyone.

"Beca stop!" Chloe's voice was stern as I stopped and let the three of them catch up to me.

"You just went up a few places in my book Beca," Aubrey said as she smiled and nodded at me. "That dirt ball had it coming." I laughed at her form of a peace offering as winced and carefully cradled my cheek.

"I know you could have taken him, but Benji texted me from the office and said that Principal Gold had heard the commotion and was on his way." Jesse reasoned with me. I sighed in defeat as I thanked him for stepping in.

"Thank God for Benji being an office assistant, he's our very own radar." I joked as Jesse joined in with me. I looked to Chloe who still hadn't said much about the ordeal. I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by the first warning bell ringing.

"I'll see you guys later, if I skip class again Mr. Thompson is going to _kill_ me!" Jesse slipped his backpack over his shoulder as he took off in a light jog in towards the Language Arts section of the school.

"We can take my car to Oscorp today Chloe, I'll wait for you in the parking lot. Oh and don't forget! We have class with Dr. Connors at Barden tomorrow!" Aubrey yelled to Chloe as she too walked away, headed towards class.

"Bye Posen! Try not to miss me!" I yelled after her as she flipped me off without so much as breaking her stride. Chloe and I laughed as we turned to each other.

"Looks like it's you and me Red. So Barden University? Already taking college classes huh?" Chloe smiled at me as we walked to class together. I bumped her hip with mine playfully as she pushed back.

"I'm just trying to get as many credits out of the way as I can. Cause you know, I'm going to be so busy next year with a full time internship at Oscorp." I smiled as I watched her talk. She became so engrossed when she would talk about biology. That was her thing. Chloe was a genius when it came to that stuff, she'd told me that she'd wanted to become a doctor when she was older, she wanted to help people.

A silence fell over us as we walked into the classroom and took our seats. Chloe she sat down across from me as I threw myself into the desk and rested my head on the table.

"You know, what you did back there was great." I sat up straighter as she turned to me. She was fiddling with her pen as she spoke again. "Stupid. But great." She smiled at me and then turned around as Ms. Sanders began her lecture. I smiled to myself as her words replayed in my head. I rested my head down on my crossed arms again and couldn't help but stare at her. _God was pretty and she was so out of my league._

 _xxx_

"Does Dr. Connors know that we've been following him?" Dr. Ratha asked his men as he sat in his chair overlooking the city. He placed his cigar in his mouth as one of his best agents stepped forward.

"No sir. He doesn't suspect a thing." The man in the all black suit joined his hands in front of himself. Dr. Ratha turned in his chair as he eyes the five men in suits. He nodded slowly as he set his cigar down in the tray.

"Good. We need to keep it that way. If all goes to plan we will be needing him very, very soon. Maybe after this whole ordeal we can finally make some headway with the serum." He spat bitterly as he looked at the pictures that were in front of him.

"After I get him to give me the rest of the formula, we can have the serum finished and trials beginning. Then we take out Osborn."


	2. Chapter 2

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 2

BECA POV

"I'm making spaghetti and meatballs tonight." Aunt May told me when I walked into the kitchen.

"Really? Spaghetti and meatballs?" I sighed opening the fridge. I grabbed a chocolate milk and hopped up on the counter as I unscrewed the lid and took a drink.

"Since when don't you like spaghetti and meatballs?" She asked me quizzically. I shrugged as she turned to look at me. Her eyes widened as she hurried over to me and cupped my face gently.

"What happened to your face?" I slouched out of her hands and hopped down off the counter.

"Nothing, I just fell. You know me, two left feet!" I laughed nervously trying my best to change the subject. I heard Uncle Ben coming up from the basement and with him he carried a cardboard box. Bowling trophies, various hardware tools and other random things were piled in it.

"Ben Mitchell, don't you even think of bringing that filthy box into my kitchen!"

"But these are my bowling trophies." He deadpanned as I grinned at the two of them. Even after 30 years of being married, they still kept the spark in their relationship, still kept everything alive.

"Oh well then by all means…" Aunt May trailed off sarcastically as I laughed, she turned back around to the stove to stir the spaghetti sauce. Uncle Ben winked at me as he too chuckled and began to go through the box.

"Alright DJ, I'm gonna need your expertise to help me fix the stereo over here." He walked through the dining room, and into the living room to the sound system. He began to scoot it away from the wall as I stepped to the other side and helped.

"For some reason, the music plays out of the left speaker, but not the right. Take a listen." He turned it on and I knew what the problem was right away. The bass line ran through the wires of the left speaker so that was missing from the overall sound. I leaned around to check out the wires and saw how frayed and worn they were, they definitely needed to be replaced.

"The wires are shot. Look at how bad they are, they're almost bare."

"Can you fix it?" Uncle Ben looked to me hopeful. He understood that I knew all about speakers and anything related to music basically, it's like my life…music that is. Not speakers.

"Not tonight but I can run by the hardware store tomorrow."

"Alright, help me look in the basement will ya? I might have some old wiring that might do the trick. Save some money." I followed Uncle Ben through the hallway and down the steps to the old basement. Various boxes and bins were scattered about and around the washer and dryer. How Uncle Ben could find anything in here is beyond me.

"Here put this on your face." I turned and just had enough time to catch the steak that he had tossed to me from the freezer. I gave him a questioning look as he scoffed. "Come on, I know a right cross when I see one." I stayed silent as I placed it against my cheek, the coolness instantly brought a relief to the pain.

"Wanna tell me what happened? Do I need to call someone's father?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. His glasses were on the bridge of his nose, allowing his stern gaze to land on me.

"No, no it's nothing." I didn't like to talk about these things to Uncle Ben, I knew how he felt about fighting in general. _Fight with your words, not your fists._

"Well whenever you wanna talk about it, you know me and your Aunt are here." I nodded as he grabbed a box from behind him and carried it upstairs. I followed close behind, still keeping the steak pressed to my left cheek.

"There should be some wires in here somewhere…" He trailed off as he dug through the box and pulled out a pair of plyers, a stud finder and duct tape. He froze slightly, his demeanor changing completely. He shot a sideways glance at Aunt May, still not getting whatever was left in the box. I furrowed my eyes as I leaned over and reached for whatever was left. My fingers ran over the worn, brown leather of a briefcase. I lifted it out of the cardboard box and leaned it against the table. There, at the top engraved in a traditional name tag were the letters, _F.J.M._

"Francis James Mitchell." I whispered as I ran my hands over the case.

"We forgot all about that old thing. Your dad asked us to keep it safe for him before he-"

"Before he left me?" I finished bitterly, my jaw clenching shut. Uncle Ben didn't say anything as Aunt May exchanged looks between myself and Uncle Ben. I couldn't help but feel angry at my 'dad'. He fucking left me. Four years old and no parents, no birthday cards, no note, nothing. They literally dropped off the face of the earth and were never heard from again. I opened the briefcase and pulled out the first thing my fingers touched, which happened to be a photograph taken from a newspaper article. I held it up for both of them to see.

"Do you know who this is?" They both looked at the picture for a couple seconds before Uncle Ben answered.

"Some scientist who worked with your dad I guess." His face didn't give away anything, it almost seemed like he had the answer prepared.

"Go and get these dirty boxes off the table! We're getting ready to eat for heaven's sake, the noodles are going to get cold!" Aunt May changed the subject quickly, picking up on my attitude. Wordlessly, we all got our plates and sat down to enjoy dinner and forget about the briefcase and my father.

xxx

Mr. Osborn, with various lab technicians, and scientists following him, bounded down the metal steps of the 'Special Projects' section of Oscorp. Ten stories underground, with a four foot thick, steel reinforced protection shell surrounding it. Special Ops had restricted access and only certain people with high security clearance were permitted to enter it.

As he walked into the enormous room, this one dedicated solely to human performance enhancers, he noticed that his assistant Dr. Mendell Stromm, was in the middle of a demonstration of the new Glider. It was here that the Oscorp team was trying to develop a serum and weaponry for General Slocum. He was looking for a new breed of soldiers, genetically enhanced super soldiers. Oscorp was in charge of discovering the performance enhancer that would change the face of war fare all together as well as furthering the technology of the weapons.

The demonstrator who was wearing the Glider suit and demonstrating how the glider works, slowly hovered back to the ground. Mr. Osborn made his way across the walkway to the General and among the group he noticed his other co-worker Dr. Ratha.

"We solved the horizon glide!" Dr. Stromm shouted over the noise of the glider. "And the multi-balance issues!" He turned to face the General as the exhaust from the glider caused their hair to momentarily stand up from the wind as well as the numerous accolades on his uniform.

"I've already seen the glider!" General Slocum shouted again, over the engines powerful roar. "That's not what I'm here for!" The demonstrator landed the glider down on the platform and the engine cut off. Various workers began to swarm around him, helping to remove the green battle armor suit.

"General Slocum, good to see you again!" Mr. Osborn waved from the walkway as he made his way down to the demonstration platform. "Mr. Balkan, Mr. Fargas always a pleasure. Dr. Ratha I see you've shown our friends here the armour suits. " He addressed the two older men in suits who were standing beside of the General. Mr. Balkan and Mr. Fargas were the head members of the Board of Directors at Oscorp, one step below Norman himself. Norman shook all their hands once he stood in front them.

"Norman." Mr. Balkan removed his glasses as he greeted the CEO.

"Mr. Osborn."

"Always a pleasure to have our Board of Directors pay us a little visit." Mr. Osborn displayed his charismatic smile as he looked between the men.

"I want to see the progress report on human performance enhancers." General Slocum skipped the formalities as he looked sternly at Mr. Osborn. He turned and began to walk further around the laboratory, carefully observing the various experiments and testing that was going on.

"We've tried vapor inhalation with rodent subjects." Dr. Stromm started to explain as he caught up to the General's stride. "They showed an 800% increase in strength!"

"800%! That's excellent!" Mr. Fargas exclaimed.

"Any side effects?" General Slocum questioned as he looked towards Dr. Stromm and Mr. Osborn, who had caught up to the pair.

"In one trial yes-" Dr. Stromm held up a finger as he began.

"It- it was an aspiration. All the tests since then have been successful." Mr. Osborn interrupted as Dr. Stromm looked at him questioningly. You could see the uncertainty on his face as he furrowed his eyebrows at Mr. Osborn.

"In the trial that went wrong, what happened? What were the side effects?" The General demanded as he stopped and faced Mr. Osborn and his team. Dr. Stromm looked hesitant as he fumbled with his hands nervously.

"Uh, violence, aggression and...insanity." He finished as he bit his lip anxiously waiting for the General.

"And what do you recommend?" The General seemed to be losing his patience as his jaw locked tightly at the new information.

"That was only one test." Mr. Osborn objected as he moved to stand in front of Dr. Stromm. "With the exception of Dr. Stromm, our entire staff certifies the product ready for human testing." He smiled as confident as he could manage. General Slocum looked at him skeptically. He held his hands behind his back as he rocked on his heels.

"Dr. Stromm?" He peered over Norman's shoulder as he looked at the scientist in question. He raised his eyebrows and his hardened gaze left no room for bullshit. Norman swallowed the lump in his throat that had formed as he looked to assistant, praying that he would agree with him.

"We need to take the whole line back to formula." Dr. Stromm admitted as he closed his eyes disappointingly. Mr. Osborn and Dr. Ratha's jaw slackened and his eyes grew in size at the confession. The General sighed loudly as he put his hand to his jaw in thought before turning away.

"Back to formula?!" Mr. Osborn quietly seethed as he rounded on the Dr. Stromm, who backed away from Norman instantly.

"Dr. Osborn!" Mr. Osborn's attention was back on the General who stood with his large, bulky arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm going to be frank with you…I never supported your program." The General admitted, shaking his head. "We have my predecessor to thank for that." Mr. Osborn's face showed a hint of annoyance at the confession, he continued to glare at the General who seemed adamant about halting their research.

"Norman, the General here gave the go ahead to Quest Aerospace to build a prototype of their exoskeleton design. They test in two weeks." Mr. Balkan explained as he removed his glasses, a habit he did when he was serious.

"And if your so called 'performance enhancers' have not a _successful_ human trial by that date…I'm going to pull your funding. I'm going to give it to them." Mr. Osborn and Dr. Stromm exchanged worried glances as they both nodded silently to the General. You could see the apprehension on their faces as they were faced with ultimatum.

"Gentlemen, ladies…" The General excused himself as he exited the laboratory.

xxx

Beca POV

I sat Indian style on the rug in my bedroom as I looked closely at the items that were in my father's briefcase. I lined everything up in a row and brought my leg up to rest my chin on as I looked everything over carefully. A pair of glasses that were tucked away in a case, pens and pencils, a scientific calculator, a spell checker, and his Oscorp badge. _'A whole lot of junk.'_

I picked up the case that had the glasses inside and opened them um. Black, square framed glasses were inside as I clumsily opened them up. I stood up and walked into my bathroom which was to my left and connected to my room. I reached for my contact lens case and carefully removed the lens from my eyes. Not many people knew that I had glasses for the simple fact that I thought they looked nerdy. I hated having to wear them and often opted to stick to contacts. I slid my dad's glasses on and pushed them up to rest on the bridge of my nose. I looked at my reflection briefly before I chuckled and removed them. Setting them on the sink, I walked back to examine the other items.

I picked up the Oscorp I.D. badge and stared into my father's picture _. Dr. Francis Mitchell_ was in black, bold letters beneath the photograph. _Genetics Laboratory_ was written below his name. He wasn't smiling, I guess that's one thing I got from him. His brown eyes stared back into mine as I fumbled with the card.

" _He cared more about his career than he did about you. He left you for this.'"_ I tightened my grip on the badge before I threw it across the room angrily. It hit my Ramones poster before falling onto my pile of dirty clothes. I bit my lip trying to fight the tears that had started to form in my eyes. I quickly swiped them away with the back of my hand as I shook my head.

"Get your shit locked down Mitchell." I told myself as I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. "Fuck."

I reached for his briefcase to finish looking through it before I called it a night. I held it in my hands as I looked the outside over carefully. I felt the weight of the case shift when I tilted it to one side.

" _What the…"_ I tilted it back the other way and felt the same shift of weight again. I lifted the flap of the bag as I dug through the various folds and rivets in it, only to find absolutely nothing that could have caused the shift. I flipped it back over and looked at the folder space on the back of it. I unzipped the pocket and carefully, I traced my fingers along the edge of the crease as I stuck my tongue out in concentration.

" _There!"_ Right at the end of the fold, my fingers had gotten stuck in a small hole. I pulled the secret compartment open more and to reveal a false inside with a folder tucked in it. I pulled out the brown envelope and tossed the briefcase to the side as I focused on the folder in my hand. It was stuffed with various papers held together by paper clips. I sat up on my knees and leaned forward to push my door shut.

I opened the folder and was greeted with the sight of a cut out newspaper article. It was the same picture that I'd showed Aunt May and Uncle Ben downstairs.

 _"Must be important if he's got two copies...but where's the article?"_ I brought the paper to my face as I examined it. My father and another scientist were standing side by side as the caption on the photo read: 'A World Without Weakness'. There was no article to go with picture as I huffed in annoyance at the lack of information or names.

I set the picture to the side and picked up the page that was titled, 'Decay Rate Algorithm'. There, at the top of the page in bright red was the same symbol I remember seeing the night my dad left. ØØ .Before I could read more of it, there was a knock at my door.

"Yeah one sec, one sec." I tossed the papers and picture back into the folder and slid it under my bed. I jumped up to sit at my desk and put my headphones around my neck to make it look as though I was mixing. "Come in."

Uncle Ben peaked his head through the door at first and then walked inside. He stood with his right arm resting on the door frame and his left on the door knob.

"You okay?" He asked me as I nodded.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Can I come in?" He asked me as I nodded again to him. He shut the door behind him as he walked over and sat on the edge of my bed. I spun around in my chair so that I faced him.

"Listen, uh- I don't have much education, you know that Beca." He looked around my room as he continued. "Hell I stopped being able to help with your homework when you were ten." I looked at him curiously as he continued. "The point I'm trying to make here is that I know it's been rough for you without your dad and I know we don't talk much about that."

I nodded in agreement with him and shrugged. I felt guilty, Aunt May and Uncle Ben had always tried so hard to be everything that my parents weren't. They always provided for me whatever I needed and to them I would always be grateful.

"No it's alright-"

"No. It's not alright." He looked at me sympathetically as he continued. "I wish I could change it, but I can't. Rajit Ratha. That's the guy in the picture with your dad. They worked together for years, they were close. But after that night we never saw him again. He never even called." Uncle Ben finished as I nodded slowly, trying to wrap my head around the new information. _That's the same dude that Chloe and Aubrey are on the internship for._

Uncle Ben smiled sadly at me as he stood up to leave. He had made it to the door before I cleared my throat.

"Hey Uncle Ben," I called to him as he stopped in the doorway and turned to me. "You make a pretty great dad." I told him honestly. He nodded and gave me a small smile as he left me alone.

Once the door was shut, I grabbed my phone off my desk to see that I had a few new texts.

' ** _Dad has had a stick up his butt ALL day. We need another movication soon. Plz and thx :)' –Lesbro Osborn 8:08 p.m._**

Jesse put that in my phone as his name, not me.

' ** _Becky, need you to cover Eric's shift later tonight. He just called out sick.' –Luke Morgan 8:46 p.m._**

' ** _Hey Bec, got any new mix CDs for me? My old one has about had it, guess that's what happens when your best friend is such an awesome DJ ;) x' – Chloe 9:14 p.m._**

I looked at the clock and saw that it was a quarter til 10. I sent Luke a quick text letting him know that I'd be over to the station as soon as I could. I grabbed my skateboard from my closet and my shoes. I sat at the foot of my bed as I texted Chloe back.

' ** _Looks like you're in luck Beale. Finished one last night. I'll give it to you tomorrow?'_** Almost instantly she had replied.

' **_:( Me and Aubrey are leading a new group of interns tomorrow at Oscorp to meet Dr. Ratha, so I won't be at school. Can I swing by in the evening? I'm in need of a cuddle-sesh'_**

I couldn't believe my luck at her words. Internship tomorrow at Oscorp? Looks like Beca Mitchell is going to be attending.

' ** _I'll definitely see you tomorrow, no promises on the cuddles though Red, I'd lose my street cred. ;)'_**

' ** _You lost your 'cred' the day you came to mine and Aubrey's choir concert Mitchell ;) can't lose what you don't have lol'_**

' ** _We'll see Red. ;)'_**

I tossed my phone into my back jeans pocket as I grabbed my mixing bag and started to pack it. Before I left my room, I reached under my bed to grab the folder I hid there earlier. I tossed it into the bag as well with only one thought on my mind:

Oscorp.


	3. Chapter 3

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 3

' _Holy shit.'_ I looked at the skyscraper in front of me as I took in the size and intricate design. Oscorp tower was the third tallest building in New York standing at 1,776 feet high, just behind One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building. The outside walls were made entirely of glass, having a metal reflective hex shaped cage surrounding it. At the very top the two sides of the building spilt and wrapped around the roof, forming two spilt points. On the top of the roof stood a 408ft long sphere antenna.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as my nerves were starting to get to me. This whole plan was insane. Sneaking into Oscorp? The leading science facility on the Eastern Seaboard? Yeah no that's totally possible, let's just pretend that I'm one of the top students in New York who just happened to be qualified enough to be able to intern for Dr. Ratha. Yes sure, no problems there what so ever. I watched as another few people rushed through the revolving doors to the building.

' _You want to find out why your dad left you and all this other crazy shit? March your ass in there and get some answers!'_

With that, I pushed my black Ray Ban glasses to rest on the bridge of my nose. I opted to wear them today in hopes that it might help me fit the part of a scholar. I gripped the shoulder strap on my bag and took a deep breath.

' _Fuck it.'_ I pushed my way through the revolving doors as I entered the main lobby of the Oscorp building. I stood and took in the marvelous structure as my jaw dropped. Marble floors and the first ceiling was a solid 20 stories above allowed each floor until then to be seen from the lobby, the various elevators shafts were enclosed in glass, allowing you to see out.

"Excuse Me." I turned to the side and noticed at the receptionist desk there was a young woman staring at me. I approached her slowly, noticing the way her eyes were silently judging me. I stood up a bit straighter as I leaned onto the desk.

"Yeah?"

"Can I help you?" Her tone was too formal, but then again so was her appearance. Jet black suit, fitted with a white button up and skirt. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun and she had a headset complete with her own official Oscorp badge attached to her jacket. _'Felicia Hardy'._

"Uh yeah, I'm here to see Dr- Dr. Ratha?" I mentally slapped myself as I stuttered nervously.

"Right. You'll find yourself to the left." I drew my eyebrows together in confusion as she eyes me suspiciously. "You are here for the internship?"

"Yeah- Yes!" I shook my head profusely as she smirked at me.

"Okay…you'll find your badge, to the left." I looked to my left and that's when I realized what she meant. There must have been twenty I.D. badges sitting on the counter, each with the student's name and the Oscorp Logo. Luckily, there was no photo I.D. I grabbed the first name tag I could reach. Sorry Anna Peterson.

"Take the escalator up to the first floor and from there you should see a sign and your tour guide." I nodded to her as I clipped the badge on to the flap of my leather jacket.

"Welcome to Oscorp. Born from the mind of our founder Norman Osborn, the Oscorp Tower houses 108 floors of innovation." I hopped on the escalator as I looked at the hologram that was present from the lobby to about the 10th floor. The electronic voice was playing over top of the hologram of Norman Osborn holding the globe. His various scientific achievements and awards were being displayed as well. "Our scientific minds are pushing the boundaries of defense, biomedical, and chemical technologies. The future lies within."

I reached the top of the first floor and immediately saw a small group of students near the elevator doors. I slowly approached the group and hung out in the back, trying to be as discrete as I could.

"Welcome to Oscorp. My name is Aubrey Posen, I'm a junior at Midtown Science and head intern to Dr. Ratha." I put my hand to my face and played with my glasses, trying to avoid being seen by Aubrey, I knew that if she saw me all hell would break loose and it would ruin my plan.

"And I'm Chloe Beale, also a junior at Midtown and we'll be your tour guides today." Chloe's introduction was friendlier than Aubrey's, her smile was warm and genuine, unlike Aubrey who looked like she was babysitting.

"Where we go, you go. That's the basic rule. If you remember that all will be fine, if you forget that-" Yelling cut off Aubrey as we all turned to look over the glass railing towards the commotion in the lobby.

"Tell him that Anna Peterson is here! Dr. Ratha! I'm here! I'm-" She continued to yell as she was being escorted out of the building by two bulky security guards. I chuckled under my breath as I was her being taken out the doors.

"Well I guess we don't have to tell you what happens if you don't." Chloe finished as everyone laughed. "Aubrey will be leading the first leg of the tour here, so without further ado-" Chloe stepped aside as her and Aubrey exchanged a smile. Aubrey pressed the 'up' button and it lit up green. Of course, everything at Oscorp was green.

Two elevators arrived almost immediately and Aubrey instructed half of us to get in the first with herself and the rest to join Chloe on the second. I watched as the elevators started to fill as Aubrey and Chloe waited to be the last ones on.

' _Damn it.'_ I realized that by me being in the back of the line that I would be the last person Chloe would see and the first person off the elevator. I tried to keep my head low as the students entered the elevators. Aubrey's filled first so she had closed the doors and was already on the way up to whatever floor we were going to. At last it was my turn to get on and I could feel Chloe's eyes following me as I stepped on the elevator. She walked in behind me as the electronic voice came on.

"What floor?"

"Thirty-fourth." Chloe answered as the elevator began to move upward. All the students gasped in excitement as they ascended through the Oscorp tower. The lobby grew smaller and smaller until we reached the twentieth floor, where our view was ended. I risked taking a look at her as I lifted my head slightly. I could see her staring straight ahead as a slight smirk was present on her face. She shook her head as she chuckled quietly to herself and looked down to her boots. I smiled at her as I knew that I was busted. The elevator stopped and Chloe stepped off first as she instructed us to follow Aubrey. We walked down a hallway briefly before stopping at a pair of clear glass doors. She swiped her access card and entered a pattern code before the doors slid open and we followed her inside. Various labs and instruments were set up in the large room, accompanied by the numerous lab technicians and scientists that were attending them.

"Come around this way." Aubrey instructed us to form a circle in the open space at the front of the room. On the ground I noticed that there were eight laser sensors stationed in the pattern of a circle on the floor in our circle. I watched as Aubrey produced a remote control from her lab coat pocket and with the push of a button, a hologram appeared in front of us.

"Welcome to Oscorp's tree of life." The hologram began speaking as the images in front of us began to change. "Our planet's tree of life is immense. At Oscorp's Cross-Species Division-"

I feigned interest as I looked around discretely, trying to find some kind of information on Dr. Ratha or anything that might help figuring out about my dad. I scooted my way to behind the rest of the pack as I looked at the various rooms all enclosed in glass and what felt like it took up the entire floor.

I felt someone lightly grab my bicep and pull me away from the group. I turned and found myself face to face with Chloe. She let go of my arm as she dropped her hands down to her side.

"Oh, hey there Chlo." I laughed out nervously as I scratched the back of my head. "What's goin' on?"

"Hi there...Anna?" Chloe's eyebrows rose in confusion as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What're you doing here?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side.

"Well ya know, I just really love science and I thought, 'Hey! There's an internship at Oscorp! Let's go and learn all about-"

Chloe laughed as she saw through my bullshit. She held up her hand to stop me as she smiled.

"You and I both know you can't stand school, let alone _science,_ so what's really going on? Are you following me?" Chloe teased as she bit her lip and nudged me playfully.

"What?! No! I just- I…" I trailed off as I sighed in defeat. I looked to my shoes as I kicked at the floor. I put my hands in my pockets as I looked back to Chloe.

"Becs, what's going?" Chloe's tone changed from playful to concerned as she reached out to me, her hand resting on my forearm. I looked up and saw nothing but concern in her bright blue eyes. Chloe Beale, ever the most observant person. Its crazy how well she could read me, how she understood me. Chloe was never one to try and blow through my walls that I'd spent years and years building. Chloe took her time and she let me open up whenever I needed to, whenever _I_ wanted to. She never rushed me.

"My dad." I finally said as her eyes shown even more confusion at my statement.

"Your dad? What about your-"

"Chloe!" Both of us jumped at the intrusion as we saw Aubrey waving, motioning for Chloe to join her. Chloe quickly pulled her hand away from my arm. Aubrey's hand froze mid-wave and her smile vanished as soon as she caught sight of me. She instantly narrowed her eyes, shooting me a death glare and if looks could kill I'd be six feet under at the moment. She snapped back to reality as she motioned for Chloe to join her at the front of the group.

"I have to lead this tour group, so I'm going to ask you about this later. Do not get me in trouble." Chloe warned as she swiftly made her way through the students and reached Aubrey.

"Dr. Rajit Ratha is going to be joining us now, please hold all questions until he's finished, thank you." Aubrey said as the students began to clap. He immerged from one of the glass experimental rooms marked with a white "3". He smiled kindly at the group and gave a half-hearted wave.

"Thank you, thank you. Settle down now." The applause died off as he turned towards Chloe and Aubrey. He looked just like he had in the picture I had. Evidence of old age was starting to show with his forehead wrinkles and crows feet but he still resembled the same age as in the picture. I had to find out what he knew about my dad, one way or another. Dark black hair, trimmed to perfection and his clothes were pressed, no wrinkles to be seen at all.

"Thank you Miss Posen, Miss Beale." He gave a slight bow to them as he stepped forward walked slowly in front of the front line of students. He looked each one of them up and down, lingering at one boy in particular as he adjusted his tie. The boy looked embarrassed at Dr. Ratha continued down the line before rounding and making his way back in front of Aubrey and Chloe.

"Rule number one, always present yourself in a way that will attract your ideal clients and inspire them to work with you." The group nodded, a few going so much as to scribble the quote down in their notebooks. I rolled my eyes at their eagerness.

"Welcome, my name is Doctor Ratha, the world's foremost scientist dealing in herpetology, I'll assume you all know that is the study of reptiles." He gave a pointed look to everyone as he continued. "I want to create a world without weakness. Like the Parkinson's patient, who watches in horror as their body slowly betrays her, or the man with macular degeneration, whose eye's grow dimmer each day, I wish to find the permanent solution to these medical anomalies. It is here at Oscorp that I work with many of the world's best scientists, including Dr. Norman Osborn, to develop the advancements that we experiment."

I watched him carefully as I saw the small smirk at the end of his speech. There was something off about the guy that I couldn't lay a finger on, almost as if he was up to something, he was super arrogant. His pager went off as he dug through his carious pockets to find it before reading it. His brow furrowed and I watched his grip tighten on the pager.

"I do apologize for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid I am being needed elsewhere. I'll leave you in the more than capable hands of Miss Beale and Miss Posen. Pleasure to meet you all." He nodded to the two as they straighten up and nodded back agreeing.

"Alright guys, we're gonna take you to the bioreactor room now." Aubrey began.

Dr. Ratha walked by the group as he headed towards the entrance that the group had just walked though. Spotting my opportunity, I walked backwards until I was in his path. I grabbed a folder off the desk beside and pretended to look engrossed in the information as I started to walk towards him, deliberately in his way. He was glancing down at an envelope that one of his assistants had only moments ago placed in his hands. He was only a mere two feet in front of me as I side-stepped and walked straight into his left side.

"Sorry! I didn't-" I started as he looked at me annoyed.

"You really should pay attention to where you're walking." He huffed and squatted down to pick up the papers he's been carrying. They were scattered on the ground as I dropped down to help him, while also quickly scanning the pages for any clues that could help me. He had them all almost cleaned up when I grabbed the last stack of black papers. I furrowed my eyes at these when I noticed the symbol in the upper right hand corner. ØØ. I froze as I stared at the page before snapping my head up at Dr. Ratha. He snatched the papers out of my grasp as he adjusted his coat and walked away.

"That's the same symbol that's on my dad's stuff." I whispered to myself. I watched as he exited through the automatic doors as I looked around. Aubrey and Chloe were explaining the latest machinery to the interns and all the scientists were too busy to even take notice my presence. I kept my eyes on Dr. Ratha as I followed him through the doors and down the hallway towards another division of Oscorp. I checked over my shoulder to make sure that no one had noticed me as we walked around the outer edge of the thirty-fourth floor. You could see the skyline of New York City through the glass windows as the Empire State Building was in the distance.

Dr. Ratha turned into another hallway to the right as I stood creeping around the corner watching him carefully. I watched as he approached the door that had a huge black sign with yellow lettering reading: _Restricted Access: Authorized Personal ONLY._ He swiped his hand across the senor touch pad beside the door knob as a projection displayed different patterns of floating shapes and lines. He touched the green hexagon as it lit up. He dragged the pattern in 'Z' shape before releasing the shape and pressing the green button at the bottom of the displayed screen.

The door locked click open as he hastily grabbed the handle and walked through the entry way as 2 technicians in white jump suits walked out, he said a brief 'hello' and continued on his way. The door shut behind him as I heard the lock reset. I looked around and noticed that no one was around in the hallway as I walked around the corner and towards the touchpad.

I stood in front of the door as I glanced at the lock projection that had popped up as it sensed me standing in front of it. _'Please enter unlock pattern'_ I looked at the floating shapes, ranging from a triangle to a square, every different shape was present. Cautiously, I clicked the hexagon as it lit up at my touch. I dragged the shape in the same pattern that Dr. Ratha had and clicked the green button. The lock on the door clicked as I pushed my way through it.

"Fuck." I muttered as I'd lost sight of Dr. Ratha. The long white hallway had absolutely no sign of him as I walked. I peeked in through some of the windows to the rooms and noticed that there was zero sign of any scientists in here, instead it was a series of machines building other smaller machines.

I went over to the first door that was labeled: _Biocable Development Unit ØØ_ and peeked inside. Cautiously, I turned the door handle and entered. No big alarm went off so I took that as a good sign as I tip toed into the room.

I looked on the table to my left and noticed that there were several packages of Biocable lying open. I picked one cartridge up and examined it closely. It couldn't have been bigger than a quarter but from what I could see, the wiring, if that's what it was I couldn't tell, was packed tightly together. I tucked one into my pock and looked to my right to see another set of doors, these one's made of glass.

The doors slid open as soon as I was within 2 feet and inside, the room lights were a dimmed blue. I stepped inside as the doors slid shut and noticed what looked like a grid spinning slowly in front of me. The grid had to be about 12 feet high and 5 feet long and there were two layers circling around each other. Each square of the grid was lit by red lights in each corner. I stepped through the first layer as the second was spinning in front of me and the first spinning behind me. It was moving so slowly that I was able to see what they were for. In each square of the grid were spiders. And not just any type of spiders. These spiders were white and glowing as well as their webs that they were clinging to.

"What the fuck is this?" I looked around some more and noticed that there was nothing else in this room, it was solely focused on these spiders. "What's so special about these little guys?"

Curiously, I reached out and touched one of the edges of the glowing web that was connected to square border. Instantly the machines stopped and a hissing sound was coming from the machine. I looked up and noticed that the tiers from each section of the grid had begun to lower the grid squares into the ground, disappearing. The glowing spiders instantaneously began to fall as the webs were being squashed by the grid. "Shit! Fuck!" I jumped around trying to shake them off of me as I could feel more falling. I could feel one crawling in my hair as I leaned over and ran my hands through my hair trying to rid myself from them.

"Ow! Damn it!" I yelped feeling a sharp stinging in my hand. I leaned back up and flipped my hair over my shoulders as I looked at my hand that had begun to burn. Two little bite marks were present on the top of my hand, the spider crawling away on the floor. "Get me the hell out of this place!"

I turned and jogged back over to the glass doors and back through the first door that led to the Biocable Development Unit. The door slammed shut behind me as I leaned against it, catching my breath. A woman walked by me and gave me questioning look as I smiled back nervously. I straightened out my clothes and hair before heading back towards where I'd last seen the group.

"Where is Ear Monstrosities at?! She's not even supposed to be here! For serious Chloe what is wrong with you?!" I could hear Aubrey before I could see her. I rounded the corner and walked back into the lab as Aubrey was in the middle of lecturing Chloe who looked like someone had kicked her puppy.

"Easy Pucinator, we don't want you to repeat what happened at Regionals last year." I smirked at her as I approached the two. Chloe turned to look at me as Aubrey glared at me in anger.

"For your information, I had the stomach bug for that whole week! And who do you think you are just waltzing right in here like you own the damn place?!" I laughed again as I unclipped the intern badge from my pocket flap.

"Give me that! I can't believe you!"

"Aubrey, it was for a good cause! Beca tell her about-"

"Save it Chloe! Give me the badge Mitchell." Aubrey cut her off as she held out her hand waiting. I happily slapped it into her palm as I smiled once again, knowing that I was getting under her skin.

"It's okay." I said as I looked to Chloe who had her lip between her teeth nervously. "I didn't even find anything to help me anyway." With that I gave them each one last look before I made my way to the exit.

"Beca wait!" I heard Chloe's voice as I picked up my speed and entered the elevator. Leaving them both behind me, Chloe running her hands through her hair in frustration.

xxx

"I'm dying. I'm dying!" I mumbled to myself as I turned the key to the front door open. It was 5:00 p.m. by the time I got home off the subway and it was a miracle in itself that I was home alive. I couldn't think straight, let alone see straight. I felt so queasy and dizzy that I felt like I was turning into Aubrey. I heard Aunt May and Uncle Ben's voice as they greeted me home, but I couldn't understand what they were saying, it was all a jumbled mess.

"I'm just gonna-" I pointed weakly upstairs as I dropped my jacket on the floor. The steps were whirling in my eyes as I attempted to walk up them, I stepped out thinking the next one was there only to misjudge the distance and I fell on my face.

"Beca sweetie, are you alright?"

I couldn't even answer Aunt May as I crawled the rest of the way up and into my room as I kicked the door shut and laid still on the floor. Now instead of the steps spinning, it was my ceiling and I felt sicker and sicker with each passing minute. I shut my eyes as could feel a migraine coming on. I grabbed my blanket off the end of my bed as I pulled it down and attempted to cover myself up, I hadn't even realized I was shaking.

I heard the chime of my cell phone in my pocket as I knew it'd be Chloe asking about the mixed tape. I fumbled around for my phone before I turned it on, blinding myself by how bright it was.

"Fucking hell." I mumbled as I swiped the brightness notch down and type out a reply to Chloe, letting her know that I was sick and it'd be best to not come over.

"Hey kiddo are you alright? You look sick." Uncle Ben had opened my door as I laid on my floor.

"Yeah I feel awful, I'm just gonna go to sleep." I mumbled out as I tried to sit up, only for my stomach to feel like I'd been kicked repeatedly.

"Here let me. I use to do this all the time when you were a kid. Heck you're still the same size." If I didn't feel like I was going to pass out at any second I would have made a remark about the height joke, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Uncle Ben lifted me up and set me in my double bed as he pulled my comforter up.

"Get some rest. You know you're Aunt will be fussing over you if you don't." I nodded slowly as I curled up in a ball and help my blankets close to me.

I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Chloe and Jesse that I felt awful and couldn't hang out tonight. I didn't even wait for a reply before tossing it aside and feeling my body shut down.


	4. Chapter 4

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 4

I grumbled to myself and pulled my blanket over my face as the beams of sunlight shown through my bedroom window, right into my eyes.

"It's too fucking bright!" I complained to no one as I rolled over in my bed. I groaned once again as my alarm clock began to ring throughout the room, the loud buzzing filling my ears. I reached out from under my cave of blankets, eager to shut the thing up. I brought my hand down hard to hit the snooze button and jumped up when the clock fell apart underneath my hand. I pulled my hand back carefully, looking it over. I looked back to the now mangled alarm clock.

"What the?" I rolled my eyes in annoyance as I threw the covers off of myself and dragged myself out of bed to get ready for school.

"Ahh!" My foot had gotten caught in the tangle of sheets as I began to fall towards the ground. I braced myself, ready for my face to meet the hardwood. When the pain didn't come, I slowly opened my eyes and found that I had caught myself. I looked in confusion as I noticed that I was in a bear crawl position (Gym class actually taught me something). I pushed myself up into a push up position and then stood up, untangling myself.

"Weird…" I mumbled as I put my hands out in front of me, turning them over and inspecting them. I myself knew how clumsy I was, I couldn't even try to deny it, but somehow I had been able to catch myself fast enough to not fall flat on my face. I shook my head and made my way through the doorway into my bathroom. I took a side glance in the mirror to see my hair disheveled and my t-shirt hanging loosely off my body. I pulled it over my head and tossed it in the general direction that my dirty clothes hamper was in. I stripped myself of my shorts as well and turned the shower on to warm up. I yawned as I walked over to my vanity, pulling the drawer open to get a new bottle of shampoo.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed a passing glance at the mirror turned into a double take. I stood up straight and looked at myself in the mirror. I tentatively flexed my left bicep as I noticed the difference. Don't get me wrong, I already had been toned and in pretty good shape with noticeable muscles and abs, but this was definitely an improvement. I relaxed my arm and noticed that it still appeared as though I was flexing still. I noticed that my abs were much more defined, my abs were now a visible six pack and my 'v-line' stood out more.

"Beca? Are you awake? Are you feeling better?" I heard Aunt May knock on my bedroom door as I peeked around the corner of the bathroom doorway, being aware to keep my naked self-hidden behind the wall.

"Yeah! I'll be down for breakfast in a couple minutes!" I shouted back as I shut the door and went on with getting ready for school.

xxx

"As of today, Oscorp Industries has surpassed Quest Aerospace as the principal supplier to the United States Military. In short, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board: costs are down, revenues are up, and our stock has never been higher." Mr. Osborn announced proudly to the Board of Directors. They were all gathered around the large black marble table in one of the meeting rooms at Oscorp. Twelve Board members sat in the black leather office chairs as Norman Osborn sat at the head of the table with a confident smile on his face. Dr. Ratha sat on the opposite end of the table, directly across from Osborn.

"Wonderful news Norman, wonderful." Mr. Balkan sat to Mr. Osborn's left. "Matter of fact, it's the reason we're selling the company."

"What?" Mr. Osborn asked shocked as his face dropped, the smile no longer present, instead a look of utter confusion.

"Yes, Quest Aerospace has re-capitalized, expanded." Mr. Balkan paused as he picked up his coffee in front of him and took a sip. "They made a tender offer we cannot ignore."

"Why wasn't I told?" Mr. Osborn shook his head.

"The last thing they want is a power struggle with entrenched management." He reasoned as Osborn looked at him bewildered.

"The deal is off if you come with it," Mr. Fargas spoke up from Norman's right side. "The board expects your resignation in 30 days."

"You can't do this to me, to this company." Mr. Osborn looked at each of the Board Members as he stood up from his seat. "I started this company! Do you know how much I've sacrificed?!" He yelled as he threw his arms out to the side, his face tinting red with anger. A few board members jumped at the outburst, while some looked away from him, embarrassed by the situation.

"Max, please…" Osborn pleased with Mr. Fargas as he outstretched his hand. "There has to be a way."

"Norman, the Board is unanimous...and we have also agreed upon who will be the next to take your place. We elected to choose Dr. Ratha. He is head scientist with the Cross Species Genetics and will take over Human Performance Enhancers as well. " Dr. Osborn looked around the table pointedly at each of the members, each one of them seemingly unable to meet Norman Osborn's gaze except for one. Dr. Ratha sat with his hands crossed in front of him on the table as he locked eyes with Norman.

"The only way that we would change our mind is if you managed to have the human performance enhancers ready for human trials by the end of next week. But after our visit and with Dr. Stromm's statement of needing to take the line back to formula…I'm sorry." He trailed off as Norman understood the statement. It would be nearly impossible to have to formula ready for human testing in one week.

"You're out of options Norman." Dr. Ratha spoke up as he and Osborn made eye contact again. Osborn glared at the man who had taken a sip of his coffee as if he was reading the morning newspaper. Osborn wiped his mouth on the back of his hand as he weighed his options in his head.

"Am I?" Norman whispered to himself as an idea came to him. He began to smirk at Dr. Ratha mischievously as he made his way out of the board room. Norman Osborn was not down and out, not yet at least.

xxx

"Hey Mitchell! I thought you were sick?" Jesse caught up to me as he threw his arm around my shoulders, clad in his signature plaid button up and khaki pants. I pulled my other earbud out as we walked through the hallway together.

"Yeah, I guess I got better. I feel fine now." I readjusted my backpack as we stopped at my locker in the Science wing of school. I began to twist the combination sequence into the lock as I droned out Jesse talking about this new movie that was coming out on Friday.

"Beca!" I turned around and saw Chloe coming up to me and wrapping herself around me in one of her signature Beale hugs. "How're you feeling?" Chloe frowned as she lifted her hand and pressed the back of it against my forehead and then my cheek. I batted her hands away playfully as she looked concerned, I mean Chloe was basically the mom of the group.

"I'm fine. Promise." I smiled at her as she slowly nodded, apprehension still present on her face. "I don't know though, I mean I did just let you hug me, maybe I am sick." I pretended feeling faint as Chloe immediately smiled at me and swatted at my upper arm.

"Oh ha ha! Very funny!" She held my gaze as I noticed how close we had gotten after the exchange. I watched and could have sworn that Chloe glanced down to my lips but before I could process that, I heard Jesse clear his throat behind us.

"Can you guys handle your toners for more than 5 minutes?" I rolled my eyes as I looked over Chloe's shoulder and saw Aubrey coming towards us. Jesse snickered from behind me and Chloe's cheeks turned the color of her hair.

"If you use one more acapella term, I'm going to strangle you." I threatened as she stopped beside of Chloe. Aubrey shook her head in annoyance at me.

"Easy tiger." I looked at Chloe who was smirking at me, I smiled back at her comment as I began to dig in my locker for my books. "I like that outfit on you." She winked at me as I could feel myself blushing. I looked down at my outfit for the day: simple black skinny jeans, all blacked out Vans and a crimson and gray fitted baseball tee. My lucky leather bracelet was on my right wrist.

"Thanks you look beautiful today. I mean you look great every day, but today- crap this isn't how it sounds." I sighed as I mentally face palmed myself. Chloe giggled softly at my embarrassment as she nodded slowly. Chloe was wearing a simple outfit but she still looked stunning. A shoulder-less white button top with skinny light blue jeans and a pair of brown boots.

"Thank you." She whispered to me as I smiled at her, Chloe Beale left me a blubbering mess.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as she jumped slightly, not expecting my outburst. I unzipped my backpack and dug out the mix CD I had made for her.

"I believe this is yours, downloaded the new ones to my computer in between classes. " I held it out to her as she took it carefully and smiled.

"Thanks Bec!" She wrapped her arms around my neck in a quick hug. I chuckled and lightly draped my arms around her waist in return.

"So Jesse, how'd the talk go with your dad?" Chloe asked him as she pulled away from me and turned her attention over. Jesse scoffed as he kicked at the floor tiles, his jaw clenching.

"Yeah, he didn't even make it home last night. He's so caught up on this one project, I haven't even seen him this week." He said bitterly as I felt for him. It was hard enough for me not having a father, but I couldn't imagine having one who it seemed had bigger worries and interests then caring and raising his son.

"I'm sorry Jess." Aubrey spoke softly as she placed her hand on his shoulder, comforting him.

"Yeah me too." He nodded and turned away, there was an awkward silence upon us as I bit the inside of my cheek awkwardly.

"So Becs, I was thinking that maybe tonight I could come by for a little bit?" Chloe changed the subject as Jesse fiddled with his notebook and Aubrey watched him. Seriously, she needed to handle her 'toner', she had no room to talk. I watched as Jesse and Aubrey walked down the hall a couple more feet to Aubrey's locker, both engaged in their own conversation.

"Yeah that's fine Chlo, you know you don't have to ask to see me." I turned back towards Chloe who was biting her lip nervously. She smiled brightly at me as I too couldn't help but mirror her, her smile was infectious. "I'll tell Aunt May to make dinner for four."

I cringed slightly as I felt a slight ringing in the back of my head. I reached behind me and gently rubbed the base of my neck, the tingling feeling still there and growing slightly more in intensity.

"What's wrong?" Chloe watched me as I shut my eyes for a second and then everything happened in slow motion.

"MITCHELL!" I snapped open my eyes and tensed my muscles as everything around me seemed in slow-motion. I could sense everything that was going on around me. The distant sound of a fly fluttering its wings and the crowds whispers as they were drawn out like when you slow down a movie. I could sense Bumper coming up behind me, his arm going forward. I ducted down as Bumper's fist flew through the air previously occupied by my head. His fist connected with the line of lockers as he pulled his hand back, cradling it. I spun around while still crouched and swung my leg out, knocking him off his feet.

By now a crowd had surrounded us much like had happened last time. However, there was no chant of 'Fight!' instead it was replaced by whispers and odd looks shot my way. I stood up as Bumper scrambled to his feet as well. I looked to my right and noticed that Chloe had backed up and was now standing in the front of the crowd, Aubrey and Jesse now flanking her.

"I don't wanna fight you Bumper." I told him, this was all getting a bit tiring and drawn out. He scoffed in my face as he raised his arms up in a mock boxer stance.

"I wouldn't want to fight me neither!" He sneered arrogantly as I clenched my jaw in annoyance. He paused one more second and began his swing. Once again, the tingling in the back of neck was there but this time it was the strongest I'd felt it. Instinctively I stepped to the side and avoided his fist as he drew it back to his body.

He growled as he threw more punches at me in a rapid fire motion, one after the other. I raised my forearms up and blocked each swing of his perfectly, the timing precise.

"Help her Jesse!" Chloe yelled at him as she was growing more and more nervous. Bumper huffed and threw one more hit my way. Instead of blocking it, I raised my left hand and caught his fist before it caught the side of my face. I tightened my grip on his hand as he cried out in pain. I could hear everyone in shock around me. _"What's Mitchell doing? How'd she block all those? Jeez, remind me not to mess with her! Fucking weirdo."_

"I think its Bumper that's going to need the help." Jesse said as he stood still, waiting to see what would unfold.

Bumper glared at me as I twisted his hand once more, making him drop on his knees, wincing in pain.

"I'm really sick and tired of your pathetic bullshit." I told him as I gave one final twist as I heard his wrist snap, no doubt I'd broken it, and he was screaming out in agony. I lifted my foot and rested it on his chest, my Vans leaving a mud mark on his shirt. I let go of his right hand and kicked off of him, sending him sliding down the hall about 10 feet before he collided with the lockers.

"Jesus Mitchell you are a freak." Donald shot at me as he went to check on Bumper.

Everyone gasped at me as all their jaws dropped and they looked shocked. I looked to my right and saw Chloe's eyes wide and her mouth hung open in pure disbelief as she stared at me. She looked scared to be honest. Jesse looked excited and ran over to throwing his arm around me. Aubrey looked like she was ready to blow chunks at any minute.

"Beca that was awesome! You totally kicked his ass! You looked like Hillary Swank from Million Dollar Baby!" He cheered as his smiled never faltered. I licked my lips as I looked down to my hands, looking at what I'd done. What was wrong with me? Where did that come from? I looked up and saw that Chloe was walking towards me, a frown forming at her lips, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I- I gotta go." I mumbled out as I pushed Jesse away from me, not even caring that all my stuff was still laying on the floor, I knew one of them would grab it for me. I took off down the hallway, opposite of the way I'd thrown Bumper.

"Beca! Hey! Wait up!" Jesse yelled from behind me. I knew that he was following me so I sped up. I pushed my way through the large metal doors at the entrance of school as they hit off of the brick walls loudly. I turned and saw that I'd dented the doors and the brick wall behind them had a chunk missing where the door had hit it.

" _What the fuck is happening to me?"_

I stopped running as I kept pace at a quick walk, leaving the school behind me as I walked down the sidewalk towards the street. The sounds drowned everyone out. Taxi drivers honking their horns, people yelling trying to flag one down, dogs barking… I could hear it all. EVERYTHING. It was like a radio and I could pick up on every station at once, all of it a muffle of constant noise in my head that I couldn't get to stop and it was giving me a headache.

I got to the corner and jogged across the street, despite the walkway sign warning me not to cross. A biker yelled a few choice words at me as I cut him off, but to be honest I didn't care.

"Beca stop!" I froze in place. That wasn't Jesse's voice, it was Chloe's. "Wait for me!" God if she only knew. I'd wait for her forever if she asked me to. I watched as Chloe jogged towards me, her auburn hair blowing behind her. She approached the crosswalk and ignored the warning sign, much like I had just done.

"Rebecca Jade Mitchell! I swear to the aca-gods if you don't-" She was huffing at me as her voice began to drown out in my head.

The sharp tingling was present again in the back of my head as I turned around and saw several things simultaneously. Whatever that tingling was in my head, it had my adrenaline going and I could absorb in clear detail what was happening. A taxi was speeding down the street, the driver not paying attention. Chloe was oblivious to the incoming danger as she stepped out in the street, her eyes set on me.

I felt my feet moving before I could register what I was doing. I ran towards her as fast as I could possibly manage, the taxi only about 15 yards from her. Finally, she looked up, her eyes widening and she froze in fear as the car raced closer.

I ran into the street and dove towards Chloe, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her with me towards the sidewalk. I wrapped my arms around her and turned myself, bracing for the hard concrete to come. I landed with my back against the ground taking the majority of the blow as Chloe landed on top of me. Tires screeched and I heard people screaming, but I had my eyes squeezed tightly shut, my arms keeping Chloe trapped to my body.

We both laid still as I could feel Chloe's erratic heartbeat, her breathing was labored too. I ran my fingers slowly through her hair, reassuring myself that she was here in my arms and that she was out of harm's way.

"Chloe? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Her voice sounded strange, unsteady.

"Chloe!" I opened my eyes finally when I heard Aubrey screaming. Chloe pushed herself up as she sat leaning against me.

"Be careful." I warned her as I too sat up. I leaned forward to sit on my knees, crouched in front of Chloe who had her head in her hands.

She was shaking slightly as I reached forward and pulled her arms away from her face. I looked over her body quickly for any sign that'd she'd been hurt. My eyes caught her upper arm, blood had begun to trickle down as she had a little bit of road rash.

"Chloe! Beca!" Jesse was next to yell as I could hear them getting closer to us on the sidewalk. Chloe looked at me and I felt awful. Her eyes were brimmed with tears that were threatening to spill at any second and she was cradling her injured arm.

"How in the…" She trailed off, her mouth opening and closing quickly. "How did you get over to me so fast?"

Before I could even attempt a logical explanation or even fathom for myself what had happened, a crowd was starting to form around us, shouting at each other, shouting at us, telling us to lie still and that an ambulance was on the way.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to her. I backed away from her and stood up getting my bearings together. I looked at her one last time and it killed me to leave her there sitting on the pavement, but I knew I had to get out of there. Something was going on with me, something that wasn't normal.

"Beca wait!"

I turned and ran. I ran down the street, as fast as my legs could carry me. I only slowed when I knew I was far enough out of their eyesight. I took a deep breath and turned into a small alleyway on the left. I leaned against the brick wall of the building and leaned forward, resting my hands on my knees.

" _WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"_ I twitched as the tingling in my head went off again. I looked up and noticed that between the various wires that connected into the side of the building was a spider web and right in the middle was a large black spider.

"Shit." I said to myself as it dawned on me.

 _Oscorp._

 _Cross-Species Genetics._

 _The Spiders._

 _The spider bit me._

 _The random burst of strength._

 _The tingling feeling._

 _Reflexes._

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I ran my hand through my hair as realization came over me. "The fucking spider bit me and now…"

I turned facing the brick wall in front of me. Curiously, I looked closely at me hand and then back to the wall. I placed my left hand on the wall first, and then my right. I closed my eyes and lifted my left leg up and pushed up. I did this again as I went up the wall more. Right, left, push. Right left, push. I did this repeatedly and finally I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the worn out wall in front of me. I took a deep breath and dared to look down. I must have been 30 feet above the alley ground, clinging to the side of the wall.

"Holy fucking shit!" I exclaimed as I looked up at how much further I had to climb until the roof. I pressed my luck more and continued, climbing the final few feet and hopped over the ledge on to the rooftop of the building.

"This is not happening."

xxx

"Dr. Osborn please! The performance enhancers aren't ready! The data just doesn't justify this kind of test." Dr. Stromm tried to reason as Dr. Osborn was looking over the computer screen, ignoring his pleas. He pressed a few buttons as the glass door to the vault of human performance enhancers rose up. He reached in and carefully pulled out a glass tube of the green liquid and carefully walked it over to the machine. He put it in the canister and pressed a few buttons on the machine, the vile disappearing into the injection site.

"Now I'm asking you for the last time, we can't do this!" Dr. Stromm was reaching his breaking point and Dr. Osborn was having none of it.

"Don't be a coward." Dr. Osborn responded calmly, still entering keys and formulas into the system. "Risks are part of laboratory science." He clicked one final button as the machine beeped loudly. He walked away from the computer screen as a silver stainless steel operating table slid out from the octagon chamber in the middle of the room.

"Let me reschedule, with a proper medical staff and a volunteer. I mean if you just give me two weeks-"

"Two weeks?! Two weeks will have lost the contract to Quest and Oscorp will be dead." Dr. Osborn took off his lab coat and tossed it to the side. He loosened his tie and began removing his pinstripe dress shirt as well. "Sometimes, you gotta do things yourself." He climbed up onto the table. "Get me the Promachloraperazine."

"For what?" Dr. Stromm walked over to the stand that contained various chemicals in vials and tubes.

"It begins catalyzation when the vapor hits the blood stream." Dr. Stromm grabbed the brown bottle and proceeded to hand it to Norman. Osborn held the bottle out in front of him as he examined it closely.

"40,000 years of evolution and we've barely tapped the vastness of human potential." Norman put the bottle to his lips and took the whole thing, throwing the empty bottle on the ground shattering it to pieces.

Dr. Osborn opened the steel arm restraints that were present on the table and laid back. Dr. Stromm closed and locked them back into place over Norman's chest, followed by the ankle ones. Dr. Stromm attached a few electrode suction cups to his chest and temples to monitor Norman's heart and breathing rate.

With Norman locked on to the testing table. Dr. Stromm walked back over the operating system and pressed the green button. Instantly, Dr. Osborn was slid into the octagon glass containment room and the table elevated so he was vertical. He locked the mechanical doors as a safety precaution and took one last pleading look at Norman, who nodded slowly for him to begin the test.

Dr. Stromm pressed entered the code for the test to begin and watched as the octagon began to fill with the green vapor from the performance enhancers. He watched as Dr. Osborn looked slightly apprehensive as the entire room was filled with green air, obstructing Dr. Stromm's view of Norman. A visual on one of the monitor's showed that the exchange chamber was at a 70% capacity. He looked at another screen that was monitor Norman and saw that the visual showed that his strength potential was increasing, as well as various muscles groups. Once they had maxed out, Norman's heart rate began to go erratic, hitting 150 bpm and continuing to rise.

Dr. Stromm looked in horror as he heard Norman began to have a seizure in the chamber, his body thrashing violently.

"Norman!" He ran over to the emergency kill switch and hit it. _Venting Gas Chamber._ The vapor in the room began to disappear, being sucked away from the ventilation.

"Oh my god! Norman!" A solid flat line rang out from the heart monitor and Dr. Osborn stopped convulsing as Dr. Stromm panicked. Once the vapor was cleared out of the room and the doors could be unlocked, Dr. Stromm ran up the metal stairs and entered the containment room from the side. He ran over to Norman's limp body, removed the restraints and began to give CPR as best as he could.

"Norman! 1, 2-" He pressed harder against Norman's chest as the flat line continued to ring out in the room.

When Dr. Stromm went to press for the 3rd time against Norman's chest, the heart monitor's beat changed and it was back to the fast beat, he turned and saw each wave indicate a pulse coming from Norman. Before he even had the chance to turn around, Dr. Stromm found himself being choked and lifted into the air. With my eyes, he saw that Norman was strangling him with one hand, his face contorted in anger. He huffed as he through Dr. Stromm through the glass walls of the containment chamber where his body crashed into one of the metal shelving units, where various machines fell crushing him and emitting electrical sparks. Dr. Osborn jumped up onto the broken ledge where the window had been and crouched low, spreading his arms wide and hissed, before he jumped down to finish Dr. Stromm off. The human performance enhancers had worked, but not without error.

xxx

Chloe knocked on the wooden door of the Mitchell's home eagerly. It was around 8 o'clock in the evening and she hadn't heard from Beca since this morning. She looked through the glass door and saw Beca's Aunt hurrying to let her in.

"Chloe dear, it's good to see you!" She was brought into a warm embrace.

"Is Beca here? It's just- I was supposed to come over but she's not answering her phone." Chloe rambled out as she skipped the formalities. She felt bad but she needed to know what was going on with Beca and why she'd chosen to blow her off like she'd done.

"She's up in her room, is something wrong? She's been locked up in there all day, more than usual?"

"That's what I'm here to find out." Chloe answered as she walked into the Mitchell's home. She kicked off her shoes and set them aside as she eyed the wooden staircase in front of her.

"Oh go on dear, you know you don't need to ask. You're practically family here." Aunt May was incredibly sweet, smiling to Chloe as motioned upstairs. Chloe smiled thanking her and bounded up the old staircase towards the top floor. Once she reached Beca's door, she raised her hand up to knock but hesitated. Maybe this was a bad idea, if Beca really wanted to see her, she would have at least texted saying so. She bit her lip as she contemplated what to do.

Chloe jumped when the door in front of her suddenly opened and revealed an on edge Beca. She motioned for Chloe to come in and gently shut the door behind her. Chloe took in the room that was Beca's safe haven. Various band posters covered the walls, clothes littered the floor and CD cases were stacked high on Beca's desk beside her mixing equipment.

"What're you doing her Chloe?" Beca asked grimly, she sat in the chair at her desk, putting distance between herself and the redhead. Chloe sat on Beca's unmade bed as she looked at her incredulously.

"Are you seriously asking me that question?" Chloe scoffed as Beca rolled her eyes. Chloe sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. Beca remained silent and Chloe knew it was going to take her having to drag answers out of Beca to get anywhere. "Talk to me. Stop shutting me out."

"I'm not shutting you out."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Chloe declared as Beca spun in the chair. Chloe sighed once more, growing aggravated at the small girl in front of her. She pursed her lips. "You left me." Beca looked down out of guilt at Chloe's words. "You left me on the side of the street Beca, no one has heard from you since. No one knew if you were okay!" Chloe cried out desperately. "I didn't know if you were okay!" Beca's jaw clenched as she ran her hands through her hair. "But it looks like you're fine so-" Chloe stood up as she went to leave, too upset to deal with the situation at the moment. She couldn't believe that after everything Beca was shutting her out just like when they'd first met.

"Stay."

It was just a whisper but it was loud enough to reach Chloe's ears. Chloe's hand paused on the door knob, she looked at Beca who was already staring. Beca rose and walked over to Chloe, placing her hand over top of the redhead's, pushing the door shut once more. "Please."

Beca entwined her and Chloe's hands as she walked them back to her bed and they both sat down side by side. Beca played with Chloe's left hand as she thought about how to explain everything to her best friend. Chloe rested her head against Beca's shoulder as she waited for her to speak.

"I'm sorry that I left you. I just, I needed to get out of there." Beca started as Chloe listened closely.

"Everyone was worried about you, and yes even Aubrey." Beca laughed lightly. "Just tell me what's going on because there's obviously something wrong." Beca sighed, she didn't want to do this tonight. She just wanted to forget about today, forget about everything that had happened.

"Where do you want me to start?" Beca gave in as Chloe sat up beside her. She turned and sat facing Beca with her legs crossed.

"How'd you get to me so fast? You were on the other side of the street and all of a sudden you're tackling me out of the way. Even Jesse and Aubrey didn't see you, they thought that you were standing beside me when it happened." Chloe asked in confusion as she replayed the scene again in her head.

"I had an adrenaline rush. It's very common in times of crisis. You can Google it." Beca held a small smirk at the last sentence as Chloe rolled her eyes.

"I know what an adrenaline rush is you dork. I just- there's something you're not telling me, I can feel it." Chloe confessed as Beca sighed in frustration.

"Can we just not talk about this right now? I promise I'll tell you, soon. I just want to relax tonight, can we please do that?" Beca bargained as her eyes pleaded with Chloe's. Chloe's determination at getting answers crumbled and she nodded.

"Yeah. We can do that." Beca released a breath she hadn't known she was holding and smiled. "But I get to choose what we do and we're cuddling because you owe me Mitchell." They both laughed at Chloe's outburst and Beca couldn't even try to fight Chloe on it. She did owe at least a cuddle session to the girl.

"Fine." Beca grumbled, feigning disinterest.

"Oh stop, you love it!" Chloe told her as the two adjusted themselves on Beca's bed. Beca laid back first and then Chloe curled into her left side, resting his head on Beca's chest. Chloe draped her arm over Beca's stomach and traced the brunette's abs with her finger.

"Have you been working out more?" Chloe questioned as she could feel the hardness from Beca's muscles beneath her skin.

"Checking me out Beale?" Beca smirked as Chloe hit her with a pillow.

"Shut up." Chloe yawned as she traced patterns on Beca's abs. The two laid in silence, basking in the comfort that the other gave, both completely content.

"I'm head of my Comparative Lit class, Dr. Connors is giving me an award at the end of the semester." Chloe confided softly.

"That's awesome Chloe! I'm proud of you, if anyone deserves it, you do. You're like a fucking genius or something." Chloe laughed at Beca's comment as she reached across Beca for her phone on the bedside table.

"Thanks Resident Badass. I actually had my picture taken with him the other day for the school's paper. Look." Chloe loaded the school's website and scrolled until she found the article. Zooming in on the picture, she handed her iPhone to Beca.

Beca's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the picture and sat up abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Chloe was alarmed by Beca's actions. Beca hadn't taken her eyes off of the phone and Chloe was growing anxious. "Beca?"

"What's your professor's name?" Beca asked quickly as she jumped up from her bed and began to tear apart her room, looking for where she'd tossed her father's briefcase.

"Dr. Connors? Why? What's going on?" Chloe sat up and watched her friend dig around in her closet for about a minute. Clothes were being thrown left and right and Chloe had to duck in order to avoid Beca's signature leather jacket from hitting her in the face.

"Got it!" Beca exclaimed as she came out with the newspaper clipping that was stuffed inside the briefcase. Chloe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Beca sat down beside her again. "Look at this." Beca thrust the phone and the clipping back in Chloe's hands. Chloe turned her phone around right and examined the picture once more before turning her attention to the newspaper clipping Beca had gotten.

"Is that-" Chloe trailed off as she recognized one of the men in the newspaper's picture. Beca looked at her, waiting for her thoughts to be confirmed. "What's Dr. Connors doing with Dr. Ratha?" Chloe asked in confusion. She held out the newspaper to Beca again. Beca took it back as she stared at the man in question, the so called 'Dr. Connors'.

In the picture with Dr. Ratha, the man had short, dark hair with a receding hair line and a slimmed face. Chloe couldn't help but noticed how Beca and the man looked like they could be related. They both had a similar bone structure, with their noses and cheek bones, even their lips looked identical. Chloe and Beca examined the phone and that's when they both knew for sure.

It was the same man. Granted in the picture with Chloe he was older, a little bit of scruff now lined his jaw, his hair was a thinning grayish-brown, and glasses now adorned his face but there was no mistaking it was the same person.

"Because his name isn't Dr. Connors." Beca spoke quietly as she continued staring at both pictures. She felt Chloe place her hand on her back, as she continued. Beca's jaw tightened in anger, her tone dropping. "His name's Dr. Mitchell." Chloe stopped her rubbing circles against Beca's back as the new revelation came to surface.

"He's my dad."

END OF CHAPTER 4


	5. Chapter 5

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 5

"What do you mean he's your dad? I- I thought your dad-"

"Left? Yeah. Me fucking too." Beca spoke through her teeth as the anger inside of her began to bubble over. Chloe watched as Beca through the newspaper clipping on the ground. She handed Chloe back her phone as she sat beside her on the double bed. Beca rested her chin on her hands as she leaned on her knees thinking. Chloe watched her friend's inner turmoil as she bit her lip, not knowing what this meant for Beca. She couldn't imagine what she must be going through.

She herself, never had to experience what Beca and Jesse had gone through and grown up without. Beca having grown up not knowing her father at all, just knowing that he abandoned her with her Aunt May and Uncle Ben. And then there was Jesse whose father was too obsessed in his work at Oscorp to notice or even seem to care that he did in fact have a son.

Chloe was very sheltered when she was growing up. Her father was George Beale, Captain of the NYPD. Chloe's was daddy's little girl and it showed with her being the ONLY girl. She had three brothers and she herself was the third child. Above her was the oldest child and son Cameron, then there was Carson, Chloe, and the youngest of the Beale children: Caleb. Her mother Carol Beale had stuck with the 'c' first name. Chloe had never gone without growing up. Her mother and father always providing her with the best of the best. Now don't get her wrong, yes Chloe was spoiled growing up, but she wasn't snobby like a lot of the rich kids at Midtown High. Chloe was humble and she always treated people with the respect she believed that everyone deserved.

"What're you gonna do?" Chloe asked cautiously, not wanting to say the wrong thing. Beca laughed bitterly as she shook her head.

"What am I gonna do?" Beca turned to look at Chloe who sat still on the brunette's bed. "I'm gonna make a visit to good ol' daddy dearest."

"Beca maybe that's not-"

"Not what Chloe?! Not a good idea?" Beca snapped at the redhead, who recoiled instantly. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea for him to leave his fucking four year old all alone!" Chloe looked down at her hands as Beca huffed in frustration. She turned around and instantly felt guilty when she saw the look on Chloe's face. Beca's exterior soften as her shoulders slackened and she dropped her arms down to her side. "Shit. I'm sorry Chlo." Beca sat down beside Chloe and sighed out in defeat. Chloe was fiddling with her fingers as Beca reached her own hand over and covered Chloe's.

"I'm sorry for being such a dick. I didn't mean to yell at you, I'm just- I don't even know." Beca played with Chloe's fingers as Chloe watched her.

"I have no room to say anything Bec. You have every right to be upset after everything you've been through." Chloe told her softly as she looked up and into Beca's sapphire eyes. Beca couldn't help but notice that Chloe looked like someone kicked her puppy, her eyes didn't have the same brightness and her smile was forced.

"No. I shouldn't have taken my 'daddy issues' out on you. You've always been there for me and this is how I repay you." Beca put her head in her hands as she leant forward. Chloe watched as she could see tears forming in Beca's eyes as she blinked, trying to fight them back. Chloe scooted closer to her friend and wrapped her arms around Beca's bicep as she rested her head on Beca's shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay Bec." Chloe whispered as her thumbs trailed over Beca's arm. Beca sniffed again and swiped at her eyes hastily, desperately trying not to cry. Beca wasn't a crier, no Beca was the girl who put up walls sky high to keep people out to keep herself from getting hurt.

"Let's get ready for bed okay?" Chloe noticed that it was nearing midnight and after a long day, she knew that both of them would be exhausted in the morning if they stayed up much later. Beca sniffed and nodded, standing up and going to her drawers to grab some clothes for herself and Chloe. After tossing Chloe one of her old band t-shirts and a pair of shorts, Beca grabbed her plaid pajama pants and white V-neck and made her way into the bathroom to give Chloe some privacy.

Once the two were dressed, Chloe climbed into the bed first and scooted so that she was on the wall side. She adjusted the blankets to rest at her waist as she propped herself up on her left arm, waiting for the other girl. Beca waited until her eyes had adjusted to the darkness before cautiously tip toeing across the room. She slid under the sheets and pulled the blankets over top of her and Chloe. Once they were settled in, both of them rested on their sides facing the other.

"Hey Beca." Chloe whispered as Beca opened her eyes. The only light in the room was coming from the street lamp outside; shining through the blinds on Beca's window and falling on Chloe's face.

"Yeah Red?"

"I know that you've been through a lot today, and I know you don't want to talk about it right now, but I just want to let you know that I'm always going to be here for you okay? No matter what happens. I'm like gum that's stuck on the bottom of your shoe." Chloe giggled out at the end as both girls smiled. Chloe looked between Beca's eyes before reaching up and tucking a stray piece of hair behind Beca's ear.

"Thanks Chloe." Beca said sincerely as Chloe just smiled at her warmly. Beca rolled over so that she was resting on her stomach, her arms tucked under her pillow, still facing the redhead.

"Want me to rub your back until you fall asleep?"

"You know me so well Beale." Chloe scooted closer until her front was flush against Beca's side. Tentatively, she reached out and slid her hand under Beca's cotton shirt. Chloe started to trace circles on Beca's bare back gently, the effect calming the younger girl instantly, as her muscles relaxed. Beca hummed to herself quietly and closed her eyes, the events of the day starting to catch up to her body and she finally felt a sense of peace wash over her having Chloe beside her.

"Goodnight Chlo." Beca mumbled, sleep starting to take in effect. She lifted her left arm and draped it across Chloe's waist, pulling her in closer. Chloe smiled softly at the protective and possessive mannerism from Beca, this being one of the few ways she showed it towards the redhead. Chloe leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to Beca's cheek.

"Goodnight Becs."

They weren't a couple but at the same time they weren't exactly just friends. Lines became blurred as the two interacted with each other on a level specifically reserved for the other only. Lines that both of them knew had long been crossed and there was no turning back but neither had brought it up to discussion. Whatever it was that they were, they never discussed it, everyone just went with it.

xxx

The Next Morning…

JESSE POV

"DAD I'M LEAVING FOR SCHOOL!" I yelled as I bounded down the staircase of our pent house. I threw my backpack over my shoulder as I walked past his office/study room.

"Dad?" I peered inside looking around for him thinking he might have already left for work. My chest tightened for a second and my heart stopped as I saw my dad lying face down on the floor beside his desk.

"Dad!" I dropped my back pack and ran to him as I dropped to my knees beside him. "Dad?" I placed my hands on his shoulders gently and gave him a small shake.

"Jesse?" I breathed out a sigh of relief as he stirred awake. He pushed himself up in a sitting position.

"Are you alright? Were you there all night?"

"Last night I…I don't remember." He told me, confusion across his face. I frowned as I helped him sit into the lounge chair in front of us.

"Mr. Osborn!" We both turned to the shout as one of my dad's many assistants jogged into the room, panic evident on her face. I stood up as she and Robert, our home butler stopped in front of us.

"Sir I asked her to wait in the foyer." Robert tried to explain as he caught up to the woman.

"I'm sorry but my father isn't feeling well-" I put my hand up to stop her from approaching my father but she walked past me.

"Dr. Stromm is dead!"

"What?" My father's face fell as the woman nodded, continuing.

"They found his body this morning in the lab. He's been murdered sir!"

"What are you talking about?" I watched the interaction between the two as I went to stand beside Robert. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"And the flight suit and glider has been stolen sir." My father's jaw dropped in pure astonishment at her words. How the hell had someone managed to break into the lab, murder Dr. Stromm AND steal that stuff?! I sighed and rubbed my hand through my hair, this was going to be a very long day which meant my dad was probably going to be an ass.

"I'm just gonna go-"I trailed off and pointed behind me awkwardly as I grabbed my backpack off the floor and headed towards the elevator. I figured I probably wasn't supposed to be hearing most of their conversation anyway.

xxx

"So she's like legit suspended? For how long?!"

"Two days and from what she said, her Aunt and Uncle were really disappointed in her." Chloe said as she dipped one of her carrots into her ranch and took a bite.

"Bumper deserved it though! She was defending herself!" I argued. While Aubrey and Chloe both nodded, Benji spoke up.

"According to what Principal Gold said, any type of violence, physically or verbal is grounds for suspension." I rolled my eyes as I tossed a grape in the air and caught in my mouth.

"Of course. Gold is a grade a douche." They all agreed with me as I felt my phone vibrate. I dug in my jean pockets and pulled it out seeing a new message from Beca.

' ** _Hey do me a favor. Keep an eye on Chloe today for me alright?_** _' –Becaw Read 1:42 p.m._

I furrowed my brows and discreetly looked across the table to the girl in question. Chloe had her head ducked down, resting against the side of her hand as she ate her lunch quietly. This was unusual, Chloe was always the one to have something to say or gossip to share.

' ** _Why what's wrong?_** _' -Delivered 1:43 p.m._

' ** _Just do it Osborn. I'll explain later._** _' – Becaw Read 1:43 p.m._

' ** _Alright I will. You owe me that movication still!'_** __ _– Delivered 1:44 p.m._

I slid my phone back into my pocket and focused my attention on the group.

"Yeah she said that her Aunt and Uncle are making her go to the library to do her homework so she can't just stay in her room all day and mix." Chloe added.

"That's brutal."

xxx

CHLOE POV

I drowned out the group's conversation as I picked at my salad with my fork. I couldn't bring myself to join in, not after what happened this morning between me and Beca. I mean it wasn't bad and we're not fighting…quite the opposite actually. I just couldn't find in myself to focus because everything just brought be back to square one: Thinking about Beca.

 **FLASHBACK TO THAT MORNING:**

' _We, are never, ever, ever…getting back together! We-'_

" _Chloe come on! I need to get in the shower too!" Beca pounded on her bathroom door as she leaned against the door frame, towel in hand. The water turned off and Beca heard the ring of the towel rack._

" _I'm just drying off! Give me a second!" Beca rolled her eyes as she knew a second in Chloe time was closer to a minute in real time. She tapped her fingers against the frame, when the tingly in the back of her head rang. She jumped reflexively, lifting her hand and leg to block whatever threat she thought was coming for her. She turned her head to the left and peeked open her eyes as a slight breeze blew in through her open window, making the blinds flutter against the wall noisily._

 _"Not again…" Beca mumbled annoyed. She rubbed her temples as her headache throbbed even more. Whatever that feeling was, it gradually started to give her headaches the more frequently she got them. Whatever it was, it was starting to get old really fast for Beca._

" _Done!" Still disoriented from the faux danger, Beca didn't have time to think before the bathroom door was being swung open and she found herself falling._

" _Ahh!" Chloe squealed as Beca fell into her body and she lost her footing on the rug. Chloe landed with a thud on her back, her towel now strewed across the floor underneath her. Beca fell on top of Chloe's body, her left arm bracing herself beside Chloe's head and her right arm catching just beside Chloe's waist, her leg coming to rest between Chloe's thighs. Neither one moved, both were still stunned from how fast everything had happened._

" _Um Beca?" Chloe looked around her before meeting Beca's intense gaze._

" _Yeah?" Beca blinked, oblivious to the position they were in._

" _I'm kind of...naked here." Chloe motioned with her finger as Beca's face instantly began to turn a shade of crimson red. Chloe giggled at the younger girl's embarrassment._

" _Shit, I'm sorry! I didn't even-shit!" In all of Beca's rushing about trying to climb off of the redhead, Beca had managed to catch a glimpse of Chloe's naked figure lying beneath her and could feel herself getting warm. Beca jumped up quickly and averted her gaze as Chloe wrapped the cotton towel back around herself snugly._

" _It's okay...I'm pretty confident about- all this." Chloe waved to her body and winked at Beca who just nodded and smiled awkwardly._

" _You should be." Chloe smiled brightly as Beca distanced herself from her naked friend. "I still need to shower..." Beca mumbled out, looking towards the shower._

"Oh right! _" Chloe jumped in back to reality as she quickly grabbed her dirty clothes. "It's all yours."_

 _Beca rolled her eyes playfully at Chloe's lack of boundaries._

' _Time for a cold shower.' Beca thought to herself as she started to undress._

 **END OF FLASHBACK**

I could feel my cheeks burning slightly from the thoughts of this morning running through my head again. That was a moment right? Or was I just imagining it? Surely Beca hadn't been able to take the hints I was giving her from last night and this morning.

"Aca-scuse me!" I jumped in my seat as Aubrey's voice rang through my ear drums. I watched as Jesse and Benji cringed and unplugged their fingers from their ears. I turned to look at Aubrey who huffed in aggravation.

"I'm sorry what?" I asked confused at Aubrey rolled her eyes and Jesse snickered to himself.

"I said that Dr. Ratha just emailed and said we don't have to come in today. Something about an emergency project he was working on." Aubrey repeated.

"Right. Thanks."

"For serious Chloe what is wrong with you? You've been out of it all morning!" Aubrey interrogated as Chloe bit her lip.

"Yeah because she's got nothing but our little badass on her mind." Jesse nudged Aubrey in the arm playfully and she instantly sent a death glare his way. I could feel my blush getting even worse as I covered my eyes with my hands.

"Seriously Chloe?! You need to handle your toner for the hobbit! I don't even understand what you could possibly see in her anyway, she's a pain in the ass." Aubrey shuttered.

"I can't help it! I mean I've been dropping hints at her left and right and she doesn't pick up on them! I'm mean last night when we were going to sleep, I-"

"You stayed with Beca last night!?" Jesse interrupted me, his eyes wide and a grin on his face.

"Get your mind out of the gutter Osborn." I told him as he raised his hands up in mock surrender.

"I think you just need to straight up tell her Chloe. You know Beca can't take hints, hell you could tell her you were in love with her straight to her face and she'd still miss it!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, love? I'm not- I'm not in love with Beca. It's just a crush." I rushed out as I tried to back pedal the conversation. Jesse, Aubrey and Benji all locked eyes on me with a straight face before bursting out laugh.

"Crush? Yeah, OKAY, Red!"

"Please, that 'crush' you speak of was so two years ago Chlo."

"Aubrey's right Chloe, so you might as well face the music, you are hopelessly in love with dear Beca Mitchell. Don't even try to lie, everyone can see the way you look at her. It's okay." I swallowed hard at Benji's words. Love? Was I in love with Beca? My best friend for three years Beca Mitchell? The same Beca Mitchell who 'didn't do feelings'?

"Shit…"

xxx

Beca rode shot gun as Uncle Ben drove the family's old Volkswagen through the New York side streets. He was going to drop Beca off at the library to catch up on her schooling before he drove off to work. He flicked on the blinker and pulled over to the left, in front of the large columned building. Banners were hanging from the roof, advertising the Unity Day Festival that was set to take place later this week in Times Square.

Ben put the car in Park as Beca reluctantly began to gather her things into her back pack. Right as Beca was going to get out, her uncle stopped her.

"Beca hold on just one minute here. We need to talk."

"Oh...well we can talk later." Beca made another move to get out before Uncle Ben gently caught her forearm.

"No we need to talk now." He cut off the engine and Beca slouched in her seat, nervous as to what was going on. "If you'd let me." Beca rolled her eyes.

"What do we have to talk about? Why now?" Her annoyance showed in her tone.

"Because we haven't talked in so long your Aunt May and I don't even know who you are anymore. You're not doing all your chores, you've skipped school and lay in bed or you sit on that damn computer all day. Now you're starting fights at school-"

"I didn't start that fight! I told you that!" Beca argued as she pointed at Uncle Ben defensively. Her jaw locked as she tried to calm herself down.

"Well you sure as hell finished it…" Ben mumbled as he looked out the window.

"What was I supposed to do run away?!" Beca asked incredulously. Ben shook his head as he took a deep breath, this wasn't how he had hoped the conversation would go.

"No. No you should never run away but- Beca I get it. You're changing. This is the time where you find out and become the person you're gonna be for the rest of your life. Your Aunt May and I went through the same exact thing."

"Mhm not exactly." Beca muttered bitterly as her hardened gaze shifted to look out of the window. She was more than ready to be done with this conversation.

"This boy Bumper Allen. He probably deserved what happened. But just because you _can_ beat him up, doesn't give you the right to. Remember Beca: with great power, comes great responsibility."

"Are you afraid of gonna turn into some kind of criminal?"

"No that's not-"

"Stop worrying about me okay?! Something's different…I'll figure it out. Stop lecturing me all the time, please! I don't need your help okay?! Can you back off?!" Beca pleaded as she brought her hands up, using them to emphasize her point. She clenched her jaw tightly as Uncle Ben nodded slowly, Beca's words hurting him. He cast his eyes downward as his lip quivered, her messed with the keys in the ignition as he started the car again.

"Right. I'll pick you up here at five." He said as he didn't look back towards his niece who had grown up much like a daughter. Beca sighed out in frustration as she got out of the car and slammed the passenger door shut, in annoyance. Ben drove off as Beca took a few steps in the direction of the library, waiting until Uncle Ben's car had driven around the corner.

Once Beca saw that the coast was in fact clear. She turned and headed to the crosswalk and pressed the pedestrian walkway button, her eyes set on the building that stood across the street. _Barden University._

xxx

BECA POV

I walked down the long hallway, dodging the various students who were rushing about between their classes. I reached the English section of the building as I approached one of the information desks.

"Excuse me." A woman with curly blonde hair and glasses swiveled in her seat. "Can you tell which room Dr. Connor's office is in?"

"Room 298. Just follow this hallway and take a left and it's be the first door on you right." She smiled sweetly at me as I thanked her.

I joined in the sea of students as I could feel myself growing nervous with each step I took on the oak floor. I gripped the straps of my backpack tightly as I rounded the corner at the end of the hallway. Another 25 feet and I'd be face to face with my father. My 'father' who had abandoned me when I was four. My 'father' who had chosen to leave me on the footstep of my Aunt and Uncle's porch, rather than raise me himself. My 'father' who I'd not seen in 14 years and had presumed to be dead.

With this new burst of confidence and tinge of resentment, I took a deep breath and locked my jaw, readying myself for the inevitable.

 _Room 298_ read in white lettering on the front of the door. I didn't bother to knock as I grabbed the brass handle and pushed my way in. There, sitting at a mahogany desk, with black rimmed glasses resting on his nose and his hair gelled perfectly into place sat the man that I'd gone my whole life hating.

"I'm sorry but you'll have to make an appointment if you wish to see me." He didn't bother to look up as I laughed bitterly at the irony of his statement. I ran my tongue over my teeth and tilted my head to the side, swinging my arms by my side.

"It's funny cause I uh- I've waited 14 fucking years for this appointment…Dad."


	6. Chapter 6

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 6

BECA POV

"B-Beca?" He stuttered as his eyes widened at me. I laughed bitterly at him as I walked further into the room. It smelled stuffy, moldy and the room hadn't been redesigned since the 70's judging by the wooden panels on the walls.

"Holy shit you actually know my name? Impressive." I walked around the room and looked at the various framed degrees that hung on the walls. Everything was perfectly straightened and cleaned up, not a pen out of place.

"What're you doing here?"

"Good to see you too _'dad'_." I added sarcasm to let him know that he anything but that.

"You know what I mean Bec."

"It's Beca, we're not friends." I seethed at him. "And I think it's time you answered the questions here, don't you think?" He sighed as he combed his hand through his thinning hair and adjusted his glasses.

"You're right." He nodded in agreement. "But not here."

"No. You don't get to decide when it comes to what I do anymore, you lost that right when you walked out on me 14 years ago!" I could feel the anger and resentment starting to boil up inside me the longer I stood there staring at him.

"Maybe that wasn't the best way for me-"

"Maybe?! Are you fucking kidding me?! You left me dude!" I shouted at him. I could feel my chest rising and falling to keep up with my increasing heart rate. My palms ached from my nails digging into them from clenching my fists.

"I LEFT TO PROTECT YOU!" He screamed back at me, his voice booming through the small room. He huffed in frustration, his face turning a shade of red. "I understand your resentment towards me, I really do. I hate myself for what I did to you Beca. The night I left you with your Aunt and Uncle was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, that I am 100% sure off. It was not my brightest moment, but I had to do it. For your protection."

"PROTECT ME FROM WHAT?!" I wasn't going to buy into his act yet, I needed to know for sure that he meant what he was saying, that I could eventually trust the man that I once called my dad. I leaned against the mahogany desk and tapped my fingers on the side panels anxiously. I began to feel a tickling feeling at the back of my head. The sensation was like someone was taking a feather and tickling me with it. The feeling of wanting to swat and stopped whatever was causing the itch. I cocked my head behind me as I heard footsteps getting closer towards us.

He looked towards the door, following my gaze, as a shadow was present through the crack between the floor and the door and I could just make out the outline of a person through the privacy glass. Just as soon as we had looked at the door, whoever was on the other side vanished immediately and silently. I huffed and rubbed the back of my head annoyed, if I kept getting more of those feelings, a migraine was no doubt going to appear like yesterday.

"Look, I promise I will answer any questions you have okay? But this is not the place for them." He grabbed his briefcase off the floor and began to fill it with papers from his filing cabinet. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I shook my head.

"So where then? So help me God if you fucking leave-"

"I'm not." He cut me off as he looked me dead in the eye. "I need to run to the bank really quick to take care of something. Meet me outside this building in one hour. Here, grab some lunch or anything you need. One hour, I promise." He thrust a fifty dollar bill into my hand as he forced a brief smile on his face and just like that he was out the door. Just like that it felt like the night he left, the same similar fashion…rushing, apologizing, promising.

xxx

"Hey Chloe! Wait up!" Chloe looked over her shoulder and saw Jesse jogging behind her on the sidewalk. He matched her pace as they walked across the quad and towards the student parking lot. It was three o'clock in the afternoon and when the final bell rang for the day, students flocked the fields, soaking up the May sunshine.

"Did you need a ride home?" Chloe asked him as she fished in her purse for her keys. She smiled triumphantly when she felt the familiar cool metal of the keychain.

"Um no actually." Jesse scratched the nape of his neck. "I wanted to talk to you real quick…about Beca." This caused Chloe to momentarily pause her movements as she looked to him skeptically.

"What about Beca?"

"Well more of about _you_ and Beca." He clarified, adding the extra emphasis. Chloe saw the look he was giving her and saw through it almost immediately. It was the same look from lunch.

"How many times do I have to tell you Jesse? There is no me and Beca." Chloe's throat tightened as her own words hit her hard.

"Yeah see that's where I'm lost. You do all the coupley stuff, there's even kids at school that think you're together and yet neither one of you can step up to plate and just admit that you have feelings for each other." Jesse ended his speech, looking at Chloe expectantly. He was hoping to see some sort of flicker in her eyes that maybe his words would help her figure her feelings out.

"Jesse, were not- it's not that simple, it's-"

"Complicated. Of course it is, it's Beca. Everything's complicated with her." Chloe opened her mouth, ready to defend her best friend. She didn't like how this was sounding. Jesse held up his hand, asking Chloe to let him finish.

"But that's why she needs you." Jesse looked at her seriously as she looked away, taking in his words. "To uncomplicated things…to make her choices clear." He put his hands in his jean pockets as he leaned up against Chloe's car.

"What if it doesn't work out? What if we do try giving us a shot and we end up breaking up? I can't not have her in my life Jesse. I can't risk that." Chloe rambled as the various scenarios played out in her head. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, she couldn't do this right now, not in front of everybody at school.

"I've seen the way you two look at each other Chloe. It's not going to end up that way. You can't be scared of the 'what if' or you'll never end up happy. You just need to let go. Let go and let yourself be happy. With Beca." He finished as he took a deep breath and waited to gage her reaction to his meddling. He had to do this. For Beca and Chloe. Enough was enough, if the two weren't going to step up, then he was. It was becoming painfully obvious that the two needed each other and who better to play their match maker right? Chloe smiled shyly at him before unlocking her car. She tossed her backpack in the passenger side before turning to the brunette. She rested her left hand on the door and her right against the side of the car.

"I'll see you later Jesse." Chloe ducked and got into her car, pulling her seatbelt on and pulling out of Midtown High School, leaving Jesse and his words behind her.

xxx

"I want to know everything. No bullshit. Why you left, the name change, Oscorp, working at the University…everything." Beca locked eyes with her father who stood in front of the window of his kitchen sipping his tea. Beca was seated at the island counter, her hands fiddling with one of her bracelets. They'd been sitting in silence for around 5 minutes when Beca had grown restless. She needed answers. She _deserved_ answers. Years of inner turmoil and blaming herself for her parents disappearance had finally simmered over and Beca was in no mood for lies or excuses. The ride to her father's house was filled with an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say to the other, both figuring it'd be better to wait.

"Where do you want me to start?" He breathed out as he sat down on the bar stool, opposite of Beca.

"Oh I don't know…how about why you fucking left?!" Beca fumed as she clenched her jaw and tensed her body.

"I just want you to know that leaving was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Your mother and I, we _had_ to leave. To protect _you_."

"What-"

"Let me finish this okay? And then you can ask any questions you want." He pleaded with his daughter whose curious eyes matched his own. Beca nodded and leaned back in the chair, allowing him to go on. He sighed as he struggled to find the words.

"Oscorp was a world leader in genetic research when Dr. Rajit Ratha and I were working together. We were trying to develop a serum that could, if injected, allow the human body to regenerate itself. Much like how a starfish can regrow limbs or how a lizard can regrow its tail. We wanted to save people, create a world without weakness." He looked out the side window at the blue jay that was perched on one of the tree limbs.

"The serum would allow humans to have superhuman characteristics. Re-growing limbs, self-healing, super strength and reflexes. Our job was basically to create a super human. With the vials of serum that Ratha and I had created, we injected the formula into spiders to test out the reactions. " Beca's throat tightened and her palms grew sweaty as she listened to the side effects from the serum. _Shit. Shit. Shit. Of course, it had to be the fucking spiders._

"It was only once we had created a few test subject spiders when I found out that Ratha had struck a deal with a foreign military organization to continue funding _my_ research. He went behind Dr. Osborn's back, as well as my own for his own personal gain and profit."

"I discovered what they were going to use it for…weapons, biologically weapons. So I refused, I wanted to part in their sick games. To eliminate me from the picture, Dr. Ratha falsified evidence against me in order to take control of my work, evidence that if it got into the wrong hands, would put the whole family in danger. He wanted me out of the picture completely."

Francis Mitchell looked to his daughter, desperately hoping that she was understanding the gravity of the situation he was in. Beca sat silent, trying to process the newest revelations as to her parents' disappearance. She sat in shock and awe, how the hell had this managed to happen to her? To her family?

Beca felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and then the notification sound. She used the distraction momentarily to gather her thoughts.

 _1 new message from Chloe: 'Call me when you can.' 4:04 p.m._

Beca frowned at the text. No emoji. No little 'x' at the end. Vague and short.

"What happened next?" The only question that Beca could muster up at the moment.

"I did something to the experiments that Ratha didn't know about. The human DNA that I implanted into the spiders…was my own. Which means that without me, without my bloodline…" He gave a pointed look at Beca who gulped, "Oscorp can never replicate or continue my experiments. I destroyed as much as I could from the archives, but I didn't have time to kill-"

"All the spiders." Beca whispered, finishing his thought. She put her head in her hands as everything was laid out on the table. It all made sense now. As much as Beca hated to admit it, he had a pretty damn good reason to want to leave.

"We had to leave to protect you. If Ratha knew that you existed…he would have come after us and he would have come after you. So we left, dropped anything that could be traced back to us, we changed our names, Dr. and Mrs. Connors…everything. It was as if the Mitchell's never existed."

"What happened to my mom?" Dr. Mitchell looked down as he exhaled.

"You're mother died in a car accident. She was coming home from the hospital, she hadn't been feeling very well and it was pouring down the rain. She was going through an intersection and was hit head on by another car…the paramedics said she died instantly."

A few moments of silence passed between the two, each of them waiting patiently for the other. Beca ran her tongue over her teeth, a habit she did when she was nervous or timid. She laughed sadly as she shook her head.

"This is so fucked up. Everything." Beca shook her head as she leaned her chin on her hand. Dr. Mitchell reached his hand out to try and comfort her but in the process his arm hit the telephone off of the receiver and it began to tumble to the ground. Beca's eyes widened as she threw her left arm out and caught it mid drop.

"Impressive reflexes…" Dr. Mitchell said in awe.

"You don't even know the half of it dude." Beca set the phone back on the receiver. "Why didn't you take me with you? When you left?"

"Because I wanted to let you have the chance at a normal life."

"Right because growing up with no mom or dad or explanation as to where they are is totally normal! Having to explain to everyone why you don't have parents! Having a father who ran out on you when you were only four! Getting bitten by fucking mutant spider is normal?!" Beca finished her yelling as her chest heaved. She took a deep breath and clenched her jaw. "My life is anything but fucking normal, thanks to you!"

"Bitten? What do you mean bitten?" Dr. Mitchell's eyes widened as he leaned forward.

"Yeah about that…" Beca trailed off and bit her lip. "I may or not have been bitten by one of those spiders that you created…and now I may or not be able to do everything a spider can…" Beca laughed nervously, rubbing her arms before she played with her spiked earring.

"What? I don't understand? How did you manage to get bitten?" He stood up abruptly as Beca raised her eyebrows at his hastiness.

"I went to Oscorp to see if I could find anything there about you, about why you left. I – I followed Ratha through a set of doors, something about 'Biocable' I think. Anyway, I couldn't find him and I went into this one room, and there were these grids and white spiders and they fell on me and one bit me on the hand." Dr. Mitchell rubbed his eyes as Beca rambled aimlessly. "How was I supposed to know that this would happen?"

"Alright, what side effects have you been experiencing since you were bitten?"

"At first I got really sick, I passed out in my room the same night. But when I woke up the next morning…everything was different. I got more toned, more agile, faster. I don't know how to describe it." Beca told him honestly, Dr. Mitchell listening intently, occasionally nodding. "And as weird as it sounds…I can even stick to walls."

Dr. Mitchell stood from his bar stool as Beca copied his movements, her eye brows raised in question.

"Follow me." He said before walking out of the kitchen and down the hallway. Beca took in the various certificates that were hung on the wall. All of them were for some kind of Literature stuff and all of them were addressed as 'Dr. Curtis Connors'. She watched as he pushed opened a door and led them both into a study room. A whole bookcase lined the entire far wall and his desk sat in the opposite corner in front of the large, open windows.

Beca's phone began to ring as she quickly dug into her pocket. She flipped it around and saw that Uncle Ben was calling her. It was already 4:48 p.m. He was calling to let her know that he was on his way to pick her up. Beca bit her lip as she contemplated answering it. Part of her knew that she should, that it was the right thing to do. But the other, larger part of her was still angry at him for treating her like a child, like she was fragile.

"Do you need to take that?" Her dad asked as he motioned to the phone in her hand.

"No, it's fine." Beca said as she turned the ringer off and shoved it back into her pocket.

Dr. Mitchell walked over to the filing cabinet in the corner and pulled the drawer open, digging for a specific document. He pulled out a crimson colored folder and flipped through the pages that were trapped inside it. Beca watched as he sat down at his white metal desk, his eyes trained on the pages. She stole a glance at the page and noticed the same symbol that had been on her father's old notes: ØØ.

"Extraordinary." Dr. Mitchell said as he finally looked up at his daughter. "Your symptoms match every single difference that we found on the positive test spiders. Superhuman strength, reflexes, and balance; the ability to cling tenaciously to most surfaces…Has anything else changed in your behavior? Even in the slightest?"

Beca thought over his question carefully…hell, everything was different.

"There is this one thing. It's like a 6th sense almost…I can like, feel when something bad is about to happen. Everything, in a way, slows down and I can see everything playing out."

"Subconscious precognitive sense of danger, or 'Spidey-Sense' as we called it in the lab. When does it occur most often?"

"It's driving me nuts! I end up getting a migraine by the end of the day." Beca complained as Dr. Mitchell frowned and looked back at his old notes, seeing nothing written of headaches.

"That's odd...with all the animal test subjects, not once did we notice a change in mental state with what you're describing. And it hurts every time something triggers it?"

Beca nodded. "It like…depends on the severity of the situation. The bigger the 'threat', the bigger the tingle and the faster the headache comes." She explained as her dad scribbled down everything she said. He bit his lip and furrowed his brow in frustration before flipping the cover of the folder shut.

"So…what does all of this mean? Like how do I go back to being normal?" Beca asked as she eyed him carefully. "I can go back to being normal right?"

"I'm afraid that once a subject is injected with the serum and the spider venom gets into the bloodstream…there's no going back." Dr. Mitchell said grimly, his lips pursed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Beca deadpanned as her mouth opened and closed in shock. "I'm gonna be stuck like this forever?!"

"It appears so. There was never a cure developed or tested-"

"Well then make one! You're a scientist for Christ's sake!" Beca argued as tone rose in frustration. Dr. Mitchell took a deep breath, preparing himself to explain what all this meant for his daughter.

"Beca, there's nothing to reverse the serum. The only thing you can do is to accept that you have these gifts and to-"

"Gifts?! I didn't fucking ask for this to happen!" Beca yelled as she slammed her hand down on the desk, effectively putting a whole through the center. Beca growled as she retracted her hand in frustration.

"You have the ability to right the wrongs in this city Beca! You can help stop all the evil and bad thing from happening, you have the power to do that! You can save people!" He yelled back just as frustrated. How could she not see what a gift this was?

"I can't help people! I can't even take care of myself or my friends, let alone the city!"

"You have to try-"

"Really? You can say that to me? I should try? Maybe you should've 'tried' to be a father!" Beca cried out as tears were now present in her eyes, making them a darker sapphire than normal. Beca huffed out a breath as she swiped at her tears furiously. She was not going to allow her 'father', a man she had just met, to see her weak like this. Beca Mitchell did not cry.

"I'm out of here." Beca mumbled as she turned out of the room and hastily headed for the door.

"Beca! Beca wait!" She heard him calling from behind her, felt the vibrations from his footsteps that were trailing behind her. She took off in a run out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her. This was all a mistake. She shouldn't have tried to figure out the secrets of her father, look where it landed her. She was basically a human spider for fuck's sake, a lot of good it did her to suddenly become interested in finding him. Beca let the tears fall as she continued to run, stride after stride. She thought about the drive to her dad's house and realized it would be faster to head straight home.

'Uncle Ben will be angry, he'll know I didn't go to the library.'

Beca slowed to a walk as she fished her phone out and swiped to unlock it. She dialed Aunt May's number to tell her she was on her way home.

xxx

BECA POV

I sat on the couch in the living room, my hands in my lap as I waited for Uncle Ben to get home. Aunt May was upset, knowing that I'd not gone to the library like I was supposed to know. She lectured me for about 10 minutes about how it wasn't safe for me to wander the streets in Queens by myself. She'd asked where I went instead of the library and I hadn't completely lied…I'd said I was visiting a friend in the city. She didn't need to know that said was my own father, who she'd assumed to be dead years ago. No, she didn't need to know that detail.

Instead she'd forced me to sit and wait on my Uncle to get home, leaving the discipline to him as always. I bounced my leg up and down as I looked at the clock on the wall 6:07 p.m.

Where the heck was he? We ALWAYS eat dinner at six and it was a basic house rule to never be late to dinner, even so much as a minute. As much as I hated to admit it, I could sense that something was up, something was wrong.

The doorbell rid me of my train of thought as I stood to get it. I frowned as I could see through the glass panel two policemen stood outside. I opened the door slowly as the cops turned to face me.

"Could we speak to a May Mitchell please?" The taller man asked, his tone strict, unwavering.

"Sure, just a sec." I turned away from the door and yelled for Aunt May who was cleaning up the kitchen.

"Yes? How can I help you?" She looked confused as the officers shared a quick look. The knot in my stomach tightened involuntarily.

"Mrs. Mitchell, we're here about your husband Ben Mitchell. This afternoon around 5: 15 p.m. he was involved in an armed robbery at the grocery store on Pike Street." I looked nervously to Aunt May whose expression I couldn't read immediately.

"A gunman had been attempting to rob the store with a handgun when your husband tried to stop him. Ma'am I'm sorry to say this but your husband was shot in the chest by the assailant. He's dead Miss."

I froze in place at the policeman's words.

 _Robbery? Gunman? Shot? Dead?_

No. No, no, no. This was not happening! I'd misheard him, there was no way that Uncle Ben was dead…he couldn't be! I'd just seen him hours beforehand! He was supposed to pick me up, we were supposed to eat dinner!

Aunt May let out a sob from beside me as she fell to her knees at the news. I dropped beside her as she threw herself on me, sobbing uncontrollably onto my shoulder.

I felt numb. I stared straight ahead as I moved my arm around her, except I couldn't anything that was happening. I couldn't feel anything. Couldn't feel the way Aunt May's tears were drenching my shirt. Couldn't feel the pain in my arms from her tight grasp. Couldn't feel the breath leaving my lungs or my heart beating in my chest. I felt like throwing up, I felt light headed and I felt like I was dreaming a terrible nightmare that I couldn't wake up from.

Uncle Ben was dead. Uncle Ben was dead and I could have saved him. If I hadn't went to my dad's he wouldn't have been outside the grocery store, he wouldn't have tried to do the right thing.

If I had just _listened_ to his words, none of this would have happened.

This was all my fault.

I killed Uncle Ben.


	7. Chapter 7

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 7

PART ONE

Dr. Ratha sat at his desk as his four henchmen formed a wall in front of him. He looked at the men in suits expectantly, waving his hand for them to begin.

"Well? What did you find out?" Dr. Ratha asked, already annoyed at his men from the late start.

"Here are some pictures that we managed to get yesterday at his office. We also were able to recover some audio feed sir." The henchman placed a manila folder in front of his boss. Dr. Ratha flipped the cover open to reveal various pictures of 'Dr. Connors' in his office at Barden University. The second picture caught his attention, the girl in the photos looked familiar but he couldn't place where he'd seen her face before.

"Who's the girl?"

"Not sure sir, when we planted the bug we had missed half of their conversation. They were arguing about something, we're assuming she's a student of his." Dr. Ratha took a good look at the girl in the photo graph. Brown hair, blue eyes, she was much shorter than Dr. Connors. Where had he seen her before?

"Here's the audio recording sir." The guard set down the recorder on Dr. Ratha's desk and pressed play. Static crackled, filling the room before the audio began.

" _PROTECT ME FROM WHAT?!"_

" _Look, I promise I will answer any questions you have okay? But this is not the place for them."_

" _So where then? So help me God if you fucking leave-"_

" _I'm not."_

" _I need to run to the bank really quick to take care of something. Meet me outside this building in one hour. Here, grab some lunch or anything you need. One hour, I promise."_

"That's all that you managed to get?" Dr. Ratha asked, his gaze still focused on the recorder in front of him.

"Yes sir." Dr. Ratha nodded as he rested his chin on hand comfortably. He thought over his options briefly before deciding with the best one.

"Find out who the girl is, get anything you can on her immediately. I'll deal with him. Is that understood?" His men nodded silently before turning on their heels and exiting the room quickly. Dr. Ratha began to look over the pictures once again, taking his time to study every detail. He frowned as he pulled the phone of the hook and dialed his assistant.

"Elizabeth, get me the video surveillance from when the interns were here. I need everything you have, send them to my computer." He instructed her, his gaze never leaving the pictures in his hands.

"Right away Dr. Ratha." She answered him as he disconnected the call. A few minutes passed before he heard the distinctive *bing* notifying him that the security videos had been sent to his office computer.

He clicked through the various files and skimmed through the tapes, looking for footage of the interns for that specific day. He rested his chin on his hand as his eyes darted across the screens, searching for some kind of clue as to who the girl was, knowing he'd seen her before.

"There you are." Dr. Ratha whispered darkly to himself. He smiled predatorily, as if he was a cat and had just laid eyes on his mouse. He watched the screen as he saw the young girl with brown hair walk straight into him. "You're the imbecile that walked into me."

He paused the video on the still that had her name tag visible. He zoomed in the picture until the writing on the badge was readable and the pixels cleared.

"Anna Peterson…" He ran over several thoughts in his head of how to deal with the situation.

xxx

BECA POV

I stared at the blank white tiles of my ceiling, trying to find the different shapes and patterns in them, anything to try and distract my mind. My Beats were covering my ears but my playlist had finished a little over an hour ago and I couldn't find it in myself to start it over.

Uncle Ben was killed three days ago. His funeral was yesterday. Today was Saturday. I'd been feeling the same way since I'd had to stare at his headstone during the service. I'd stood in shock, staring at the words sketched across the stone for 3 hours, feeling nothing but numbness, nothing but guilt.

 _Benjamin Mitchell_

 _Beloved Husband and Uncle_

This wasn't fucking fair. Uncle Ben was one the nicest, most caring person…he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to die! I felt my throat tighten and my eyes water as the thoughts continued to haunt me.

I'd shut everybody out since the night we found out that Uncle Ben was murdered. It was how I coped- I needed to shut everybody out, I needed the distance. I looked strong on the outside, I didn't cry in front of anyone, I didn't show anything to anyone. If I could figure out how to stop needing anyone, then it wouldn't hurt as much when they left me. Everybody leaves, some way or another. It was better if I pushed them away, before they walked away, taking a part of me with them.

Ever since I could remember, every adult figure in my life had told me one of two things. The ones who hurt me, had said that I was born a failure and would die a failure; the ones who wanted to help me told me to follow my dreams, that I could do anything. That LA was going to be waiting for me and that the music labels would be insane not to sign me because of my mixes.

I felt my phone vibrate on my stomach as I picked it up to examine it.

 _1 new message from Chloe: 'I know you're hurting, but please don't push me away again Bec. I'm here for you, we're all here for you…we're headed to the festival if you want to come with us. We're meeting in front of TKTS. I have to be with my dad at the stupid luncheon for a bit but I won't stay that long. Hope to see you xx'_

I yanked my headphones off as I tossed them carelessly back onto my bed. I ran my hands through my hair, trying to comb it through before I pulled it up into a ponytail. I grabbed my green army jacket off of the back of my chair and then my skateboard. I wasn't going to head to the Unity Day Festival. How did I deserve to be happy and have fun with my friends when Uncle Ben was just murdered? No, I was going to skate the streets to the empty warehouse where I practiced my tricks and could seek undisturbed silence.

CHLOE POV

I ran my fingers down my dress, flattening out some of the wrinkles that had found their way into the fabric on the ride here. My dress was strapless and rested mid-thigh, the light beige color making my skin looker tanner than what it already was. I wrung my hands together anxiously as I took in the atmosphere around me.

We were inside one of the many buildings that lined Times Square, giving us the best view for the parade and fireworks that would start shortly. Oscorp Industries organized this every year to help better the ties between Oscorp, the NYPD, and the people of New York City. At least this year Jesse was here with me since his father owned the company, I wasn't completely alone.

" _Welcome to Oscorp Industries' Unity Day Festival! Let's hear it for One Direction! Next up to perform is Maroon 5!"_

The balcony that I was stood on was closed off except for certain 'VIPs' like the mayor of the city, Oscorp members and of course my father, Captain of the NYPD. He was dressed in his dark navy blue pinstripe suit, my mother attached to his side while his arm was draped across her lower back. My little brother Caleb was somewhere inside, no doubt trying to sneak away with as many snacks as he could manage. Cameron was busy discussing his current job with some guy whose name I don't remember and then I saw Carson hitting on the young girl that was catering.

I sighed as I leaned over the railing and looked down at the thousands of people in the crowd. Balloons were floating around everywhere, along with confetti and it almost made New Year's Rockin' Eve look like an amateur party. I'd been trying to mingle around with my dad's friends but I couldn't find it in me to make the effort. I reached into my clutch bag and checked my phone again to see if Beca had texted me back. Nothing. I'd tried getting through to her, so far as to going over to her house but every single time I showed up to her door, her Aunt May answered saying that Beca wasn't there. Beca was never there. Always avoiding me, Jesse, and Aubrey. I closed my eyes in defeat and bit my lip.

I was so determined to tell her how I felt on Wednesday, but then everything with her Uncle Ben had happened and there was no way I was going to add to the amount of stress that Beca was already going through. The last thing she needed right now was her best friend telling her she was in love with her. Like legit, "I could spend my life with you" love. No, right now Beca needed her best friend- nothing more. I couldn't help but feel hurt though when each call or text I sent her only came back unanswered or no response. I couldn't be angry though, this was Beca. Beca always pushed away. Beca always ran. It was her coping mechanism for as long as I could remember. Beca needed to push away to see if someone would pull her back. If someone would stay.

"What's got you looking like someone kicked the puppy?" Jesse nudged me with his shoulder as I opened my eyes and looked up to him. He had a grin on his face as he held up two glasses of champagne, gesturing for me to take one. I took the class as I drummed my fingers against it, watching the bubbles.

"Nothing…just not really up for this whole 'party'. I'd rather be with everyone." I took a sip of the drink as I furrowed my eyebrows. "How'd you manage to get ahold of this in a room full of cops anyway?"

Jesse smiled mischievously at me as he put his finger to his lips in a 'shh' motion. "I'm afraid I can't reveal my tactics."

"You're an idiot." I took another sip as we both turned at the booming laughter coming from behind us.

"Chloe! Come here and introduce yourself!" I rolled my eyes at my father's request. Jesse stealthily downed the rest of his champagne as I set my down on the table beside us.

"Let's get this over with." He mumbled as we walked over to my parents and some other gentlemen in military suits.

"Henry, this is my daughter Chloe." I stuck out my right hand out politely. "This is Henry Balkan, I was just telling him about your internship at Oscorp."

"Very impressive Chloe, I know that that is an extremely hard internship to obtain."

My parents were bragging about my internship with Dr. Ratha and it made me uncomfortable. My dad put his arm around me as he continued to talk with Mr. Balkan, mom discussing some kitchen secrets with his wife. I glanced over and saw Jesse smirking at me. A look that mocked _'Look at you Red, star of the show'._

Being the only daughter, I often found that I got more attention than my brothers- both good and bad. Being the only girl put a load of pressure on me that my brothers didn't experience or understand. I felt the need to be perfect in everything that she did- be the overachiever. My parents approval felt so good- and not only good, but necessary. As a child, I felt like a toy that was paraded in front of my mom and dad's friends- much like was happening now.

My dad squeezed my shoulders as I jumped. "Isn't that right Chloe?" he said.

Both he and Mr. Balkan were staring at me expectantly.

"Uh yes?" I guessed. I had no idea what I was agreeing to, but certain habits were deeply ingrained. Henry Balkan laughed and gestured to the caterer, catching sight of Jesse as well.

"Mr. Osborn!" Jesse winced at the formality. He shook Mr. Balkan's hand as he stopped to stand beside me.

"Please, call me Jesse." He corrected as he smiled politely. "Have you seen my father around?"

I watched as Mr. Balkan's faced tensed briefly. "Well, I'm not sure if he's uh, coming today…"

"Look the parade is starting!" One lady yelled as we all gathered around the balcony to get a good view. Different floats and balloons began to make their way through the streets of New York. Citizens were cheering and waving, excited to see what this year has to offer. Everybody looked up when we heard the low sound of an engine from above.

"What is that?" I heard one woman question from my right as we all looked at some kind of display in the sky. It was some kind of machine, it almost looked like someone had a jet pack.

"It must be new this year…"

We watched as the object grew closer, the smoke trail behind it cutting through the clear blue sky. It became clear that it was in fact a person on some type of flying vehicle. I'd never seen anything like it before. He flew closer to us and that's when I began to feel uneasy.

This was New York City. How was he allowed to fly this low and close to the buildings? I watched him sweep extremely low to the street, reaching out and running his hand across the balloons as people began to scream in terror. It was when he swooped back up to our balcony level that I finally got a good look at him.

His mask resembled that of a menacing Halloween goblin. The eye lenses were yellow and the rest of the armor was green. The suit mimicked the outline of his muscles as you could see the body amour's thickness. I watched as he pressed a button on his forearm and an orange sphere appeared from the glider.

"'Out' am I?!" He cackled obnoxiously as he threw the orange sphere towards our building. I watched as it flew towards the floor before us and crashed through the window, shattering the glass. A few seconds later, the balcony we stood on shook from the force of the explosion below us. The concrete blew up and part it collapsed onto the street below as fires erupted. Everyone began screaming in terror and fear as another explosion followed the first. The goblin was throwing bombs at the buildings lining Time Square.

END OF PART ONE


	8. Chapter 8

The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 8: Unity Day Festival

Part Two

BECA POV

I pushed hard off of the pavement, the tread on my shoes adding friction to the concrete that I was skating on. I bit my lip in concentration as the large crack in the concrete came in my path as I got closer. I wiggled my left foot slightly, trying to find the sweet spot on my board and readied myself to ollie. I kicked my foot down, causing my board to rise up to ollie and kicked it forward. I twisted my shoulders allowing myself to spin the air as I pressed my feet down onto the grip tape and landed on the opposite side of the crack. Backside 180 kick-flip was probably one of my favorite tricks that I'd learned recently. Simple, yet effective.

I rolled to a stop in the middle of the abandoned warehouse and attempted to catch my breath. I'd been skating around for about two solid hours now and I was beginning to feel it. I swiped the back of my hand across my forehead to rid it of the sweat and rested my hands on my hips.

The warehouse itself was an old abandoned dock shipping yard. Various ropes, levees and pallets were scattered everywhere as well as old shipping containers and chains. It looked like something out of an old horror movie to which Jesse would have a hay day at. I sat down on my board crossing my ankles and hugging my legs to my chest. I closed my eyes and blew out a breath as I tilted my head back and tried to relax.

I frowned when I heard multiple sirens from outside the building as the raced by and began fading as they headed in the direction of the city. I would've normally brushed off the noise since in New York there was always something going on, but there was almost always no cars on this road, this warehouse was in a deserted part of the city, on the outskirts where the abandoned docks were.

I grumbled in annoyance when I heard my phone vibrating in my pocket once again, I'd been ignoring it all day, fed up with everyone trying to 'help'.

"What?!" I snapped into the speaker, not bothering to look at who was calling me.

"Beca! Oh thank God you're okay! I've been worried sick about you!" I heard Aunt May panicking on the other line as I rolled my eyes instinctively. Ever since Uncle Ben had died Aunt May was constantly concerned and worried about everything, me in particular. How I was coping, how I was feeling, if I needed anything…it was past tiresome.

"I told you I'm fine, I just need space."

"Have you not seen what's going on? Honey there's been some kind of attack! You weren't answering-"

"Whoa whoa whoa an attack?! Where? What's going on?!" I jumped up to my feet as I grabbed my board in my right hand.

"There's been a bombing in Times Square!" I felt the color drain out of my face as a chill flowed through my blood. I ran over to the hanger doors to see what was happening. My jaw dropped as I froze, taking in the smoke filled skyline of the City in the distance. Gray smoke and brown dust was billowing up into the sky at a steady rate, the sounds of sirens filled my ears, cutting through the dulled ringing.

"Beca where are you?!" The worriedness was back as I snapped back into reality. I took off in a run down the road and past the metal gates with the rusted "Employee's Only" sign barely clingy to the fence.

"I'm safe. I'll be home in a bit. I love you." I didn't wait for her protests as I hung up and put my phone away in my jacket.

 _The gang was meeting in Time Square. Aubrey. Jesse. Some more of Chloe's friends. Chloe._

 _Chloe._

I tightened my jaw as I could feel my nerves going crazy. I dropped my board in front of my and jumped on, pushing off the pavement to gain more speed, my eyes set on the smoke that was taunting me, out of my reach.

xxx

CHLOE POV

"Everyone get inside!" A distressed security guard yelled over the screaming as we all were trying to take cover from the falling debris on the balcony.

"That our glider!" I looked to my right and saw that Mr. Balkan was pointing at the figure flying above us. I could feel the extreme heat from the fire in the floors below us and began to panic.

 _This is it._

"Watch out!" I heard someone else yelled as more concrete pelted down towards us, barely missing a few officers. "Code 3! I repeat Code 3!"

"Here he comes!" I turned and saw that the figure was flying back towards our balcony, another orange bomb gripped tightly between his fingers. He didn't hesitate before winding his arm back and throwing it in our direction.

"This one's for you Balkan! This isn't the last of me!" He yelled as I could hear the high pitched chiming draw closer. I looked, horrified as I saw the bomb headed towards Mr. Balkan on the opposite end of the balcony of me. It exploded similar to how I'd seen the bombs from the Boston Marathon back in 2013. Direct. Controlled.

"Chloe come on!" I felt arms grab me from behind as I lost my footing. I could feel myself being swept up into a pair of arms and carried away from outside, heading to what safety was left from the building. I looked and saw Jesse pushing his way through the debris, trying to fight our way towards the door to head inside. He held me close to his chest as I held tightly to his neck.

"Look out!" Suddenly, I felt myself falling as Jesse's arms dropped me. I landed on the concrete floor hard and I squinted my eyes, trying to sort my bearings. The dust from the debris was floating through the air, the smell of the burning wood, burning metal, it made me feel nauseous. I felt like I was trapped in a slow motion. I looked down and saw that Jesse was lying face down beside me, a path of blood oozing from his forehead and falling onto the destroyed concrete.

"Jesse!" I cried out as I crawled across the floor to him.

"Chloe are you alright?!" My dad was crouched in front of me now, searching my eyes as I stared back into his. "We need to get out of here! Sergeant, we have to get the kids out!" He yelled behind him as he slid his left arm under the backs of my knees and cradled me into his chest with his right. I saw as a few officers in blue grabbed Jesse and followed behind us. I started coughing as the smoke grew thicker from heading inside the building.

"Chloe! Honey stay with me we're almost there!" I could hear the fear wavering in my father's voice as everything around me started to fade to black, my eyes fluttering closed.

"Captain this way!" A voice called out and instantly it felt as if I had jumped into a pool of cold water. The feeling of coolness, while it was refreshing, it also awakened your senses.

"Get them to a hospital immediately!" _Dad._

I could feel myself being set onto the gurney, I just couldn't find the strength to open my eyes…they were stinging from the heat of the flames.

"Get her on a breathing treatment for smoke inhalation!" My head was lifted as an oxygen mask was being placed over my mouth and nose. My lungs were on fire, begging for the fresh oxygen and the first breath that I drew in extinguished the flames that I felt were engulfing my lungs.

"Captain your wife is okay! She's in the cruisers behind us, she's going to follow us to Roosevelt hospital. Jesse Osborn is in the ambulance in front of us!"

 _Thank God Mom was okay, I don't know what I would've done if something happened to her or my dad._

"Alright boys let's go!" I heard my dad yell out. My body jolted as I was lifted into the van and rolled into place.

"Chloe can you hear me?" I felt my dad take my hand as I squeezed his tightly. I fought against the weight of my eye lids to try and let them know that I was okay, I was just tired.

"That's my girl. Can you open your eyes for me sweetie?" I flickered my eyes slightly, trying to adjust to the brightness of the ambulance lights. My dad's face was cover in black dust and his hair was awry.

"Alright Miss Beale, just follow the light here for me and we'll be at the hospital in no time." I looked to the paramedic as he signed his flashlight in my eyes.

xxx

30 minutes later…

BECA POV

I had ditched my skateboard about 4 blocks ago, the madness in streets making it impossible to maneuver around the crowd without getting run over. The scene was pure chaos, everyone was running around trying to get to safety and some were being carried away, too injured to run themselves. I cut across W 46th Street and ran past the Marriot Hotel, where a few civilians had gathered trying to find their loved ones. I rounded the corner to end up in Times Square and looked in horror at the scene in front of me.

The windows from the buildings that were facing the square had blown out from the force of the bombs. Various debris of the buildings, concrete, street lamps and litter were everywhere but so was one other thing. Blood.

Blood painted the streets like it was puddles of rain. I could smell it in the air I breathed as I felt myself grow sick at the thought. I looked towards the red steps, TKTS, where everyone had planned to meet. I dodged between people and police officers who were attempting to clear the scene. Firefights were high up on the ladders, making their way into the higher levels to help the people who were trapped.

I jumped up and down trying to see if I could spot Aubrey or Chloe out in the crowd but no luck. Why'd I have to be so fucking short?

"Help! My daughter's trapped!" I turned around instantly and saw a Chinese man in distress, trying his hardest to hold up the wooden and metal fence that had been set up for the parade. Underneath the mangled mess I saw a girl lying with her legs trapped in the mesh. I ran over to him and grabbed ahold of the wooden pickets and lifted them up with ease. As soon as I lifted it up, the man crawled under and grabbed the woman by their jacket and dragged her out so I could set the wreckage down.

"Thank you so much!" I heard him as I looked down at the person dragged out. It was a girl, close to my age, maybe a little older.

"My leg!" It was then I noticed the amount of blood that was oozing out of her leg, pooling around her body in the street. _Shit._

I kneeled down beside her as the Chinese man flanked her other side. I leaned forward and clasped my hands together before pressing my body weight onto them, covering the gash on her thigh.

"Give me your belt!" I ordered at him as he looked confused at first before quickly removing it and thrust it towards me. "Put pressure here." I instructed him on what to do, replacing my hands with his. I looped the belt around her thigh and pulled it together as tightly as I could manage without snapping it, making it into a makeshift tourniquet.

"Paramedics! Over here!" I screamed to the two medics in blue who had just arrived on scene. They grabbed their kits and ran over to us, taking control of the situation, ushering myself and the man out of their way.

"Thank you so much! Thank you!" He grasped me by my shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug, crying against my shoulder. It took me a minute to process that he was hugging me. This stranger who I knew nothing about, his name, his family, where he's from…he was letting himself go right in front of me. He was letting his guard down for me because I'd saved his daughter. His family. He was trusting me, by allowing himself to be this vulnerable.

I reached up slowly and hugged him back briefly, closing my eyes. I could feel the tears pooling behind my lids as the reality of the situation hit me hard. I had the power to help people…to protect them.

 _To save them._

 _With great power, comes great responsibility._

I pulled away from the man and nodded my head. He let go of me and went back to standing over his daughter as I jogged over to where the red steps were. I pulled out my phone and dialed Chloe's number, pressing the iPhone to my ear.

"Come on Chlo…" I prayed to myself as I bounced in place, looking around the crowd for her bright mane of red hair.

"Hey it's Chloe! I can't get to the phone right, so leave a message!" Her voice was bubbly even on her voicemail…I shut my eyes in frustration.

"Hey Chlo it's me, Beca. Call me back so I know you're okay. Just…let me know you're safe." I hung up the phone as I held it in my hand, playing with it anxiously. I ran my tongue over my teeth as I clutched my phone tightly.

"Fuck!" I growled out in anger, kicking a piece of metal that was laying in the street. My phone starting ringing as I answered it straightaway.

"Chloe! Where are you?! What's-"

"Beca!" I froze as I heard the other voice on the line. It wasn't Chloe. It was Aubrey.

"Aubrey? Where are you? Where's Chloe?"

"Beca thank god! We're at Roosevelt. Beca, Jesse and Chloe, they're-" I furrowed my eyebrows trying to hear what Aubrey was saying. I pressed my right hand to cover my other ear so I could better hear her.

"Aubrey you're breaking up! They're what?!" I yelled into the phone, only to be met with dead silence on the other end. I pulled the phone away from my face and noticed that the call had dropped.

 _Roosevelt Hospital. Jesse and Chloe were BOTH in the hospital._

I clenched my teeth and balled my fists in anger at the thought of either of them hurt. I punched the nearest building near me as the bricks chipped away and I left a small hole. I recoiled my fist and noticed that there were barely any marks on my knuckles.

 _Whoever did this is going to pay._

With that in mind, I took off in a sprint down Broadway and headed as fast as I could to Roosevelt Hospital. Worst case scenarios were flashing through my mind the entire way as I tried desperately to keep the thought that I might have lost my two best friends out of my mind.

xxx

CHLOE POV

"I'm completely fine Dad." I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."

He turned to the closest nurse that was near us for a second opinion. I felt the nurse place the oxygen mask back over my face as I felt myself getting annoyed. I was being treated like an invalid when in reality I just had minor smoke inhalation. The Emergency Room was in complete chaos…nurses and doctors were running around trying to attend to the many New Yorkers that were being brought in from the bombing. I glanced in the direction I had last seen my best friend only to see her retching her guts up in the garbage bin. She gripped the aluminum can so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

 _Poor Aubrey._

The ambulance got a police escort to the hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me. I'd been placed into a neck brace when my dad mentioned that I may have hit my head. Despite my protests that I didn't in fact hit my head, the EMT claimed it was normal procedure.

The put us in the Emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-colored curtains. A nurse had placed a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Since no one bothered to pull the curtain shut in the state of emergency we were in, I decided that I wasn't obligated to wear the neck brace anymore. When she walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro and tossed it aside.

Jesse had been wheeled further into the room. I watched as the nurse had been working on his stitches before a doctor had pulled the curtain shut. We were told that he had a concussion as well as the laceration on his forehead. They give him some morphine to help with the pain and he was being wheeled into another room seperate from mine.

It seemed that Aubrey had stopped her stress puking as she washed up in the bathroom and walked over beside my bed, beside my father.

"Your mother is fine sweetie, I had Jones escort her back home with your brothers." I nodded to him as I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Honey I hate to leave you but I have to go. I have to catch this sick son of a bitch." My father said as he stood up from the plastic chair.

"Go get 'em Dad. Be careful." I told him sincerely as he knelt down and kissed my forehead. "Love you."

"Love you too honey." With that he placed his hat on and was out the emergency room doors with his fellow officers. I watched him as far as I could before he disappeared into the crowd.

"I tried to get ahold of Beca, but the phone cut out." Aubrey said as she smiled sadly at me. "She knows were here."

"Thanks Bree. As much as I wish she wouldn't shut us out, I'm glad she didn't come today. She would've been caught up in this mess…or worse."

"Have you heard from her since her Uncle was killed?" Aubrey asked me. I shook my head in defeat and pursed my lips.

"No I haven't, I think-"

"Chloe Beale! Where is she?! Jesse Osborn?!" I looked up from Aubrey as I heard my name being shouted towards the doors to the Emergency room. I could hear arguing and more shouts as I pushed myself to sit up more. It was then that Beca had pushed past the doctors and nursed and entered the emergency room. I leant forward as I watched her eyes roam across the room. Finally they settled on my own and she stilled her movement. A few moments passed of just us looking at the other and then she crossed the room in a few short strides.

"Chloe! Aubrey!"

"Beca!"

She threw herself at me as her arms wrapped around my body protectively. I gripped her jacket in my hands as I relaxed knowing she was safe. She pulled away just as quickly as she had held on to me.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She rambled question after question. She held on to my biceps as her eyes swept over me, her body never pulling completely away from me.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Her eyes looked between mine, almost as if she was trying to convince herself that my words were true.

"Minor smoke inhalation, doctors said she just needs to take it easy and no strenuous activity. They're giving her an inhaler." Aubrey spoke up from beside us. She smiled shyly at Beca whose hands had moved down from my upper arms and were lightly gripping my hands. The fact that Beca was being the one to initiate the contact as well as keep it...it was nice.

"Jesse has a concussion and some stitches. He should be okay too, Chloe is being discharged later tonight and they're keeping Jesse a bit longer." Aubrey walked around my bed as she stood in front of Beca, who had finally let go of me and allowed the contact to break. The two of them stood looking at one another before they both reached out and gripped the other tightly. I heard a sniffle and for once I wasn't sure who it had come from. This was completely uncharacteristic from both of them. With the mixed fear of the bombings and the adrenaline from everything here at the hospital…all of our hormones were on edge.

"Thanks Aubrey." Beca said sincerely as the two pulled away. Aubrey simply nodded before she swiped at her eyes, clearing the tears from falling.

"I'm gonna go and check on Jesse." She motioned behind her.

"I'll be there in a minute." Beca told her. Aubrey turned and walked further into the room as Beca hesitated to turn back around. I couldn't see her face as her back was to me.

"Beca?" I questioned her as her left hand rose to her face. "Becs look at me." I watched as her small frame shook slightly and she turned around. My heart broke at the sight of her: eyes watering with tears, a little bit of dirt from the bombing covered her face and clothes and I could tell how hard she was fighting her emotions, trying to keep them in check. Trying to keep the façade that she was 'Beca effin' Mitchell' and she 'didn't care'.

"Ah Beca." I too began to cry as reached forward and grabbed her forearm, pulling her down to me. She collapsed into my arms as she shook, crying softly on my shoulder and I held her with everything in me. "Shh it's okay." I felt her arm come up to grip a handful of my hair as she pressed her face into my neck, her tears tickling soft tracks down as they fell.

"I could have lost you, I could have lost both of you guys." I felt her choke out as I pulled back to look into her eyes.

"I'm fine, I promise. And Jesse is going to be okay too, were both right here with you, okay?" I questioned her as she sniffed once again. I took the pads of my thumbs and brushed away the fallen tears. "Okay?" She swallowed hard.

"Okay." Beca whispered out. I tried to smile softly, but I could feel myself starting to get worked up at the reality of the situation. Beca took her left hand and brushed my hair behind my ear.

I sat there, relishing in the warmth that Beca was providing, the security I felt of being in her arms. Beca was my safe place, she always had been. Always had her arms open for me to crash into when I needed her. And after today I realized that just maybe, I might be hers as well.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry and-" Beca mumbled as she went to pull away from me, swiping her eyes.

"Hey." I caught her arm before she was out of my reach. "Don't you ever apologize for telling me how to feel or for crying. Ever. You know I'm always here for you." She didn't say anything, she simply sat down on the chair beside me. She reached for my hand and held it between both of hers as she leant on the railing. She brought my hands to her lips and gently placed a lingering kiss there. I began to cry as everything was overwhelming to me and seeing Beca in such a vulnerable state…I didn't like it. I cried softly as she held my hand against her cheek.

"Attention! We need anyone who is not in need of immediate medical attention to please step out of the emergency room! We need to make more room!"

The nurse's shout broke us out of the bubble that me and Beca had been engaged in. Beca shuffled away from me as she stood up.

"Can I come by your place later?" Beca asked me softly.

"Yeah you better!" I laughed softly, trying to ease the mood. Beca chuckled lightly as the corners of her mouth broke into a slight smile.

"I've got to take care of a few things but text me when you're home and I'll come over." Beca spoke as another gurney was being wheeled in beside us.

"I will."

"I'll see you in a bit Chlo." Beca told me as she cautiously leaned her face closer to mine. I glanced down to her lips and back up curiously as she got closer. She paused briefly as her eyes studied me, gaged my reaction. I could have sworn I saw her smile softly before she tilted her head and her lips pressed against my cheek, so very close to the corners of my lips. She held them there briefly as my eyes shut.

And just like that she was pulling away and walking away from me. She took one last look over her shoulder as I smiled brightly at her as she fought to hide the one she was sporting as well.

Beca Mitchell would be the death of me.

xxx

BECA POV

I sat on the bench that was outside the hospital building as I fumbled with the post-it note that was in my fingers. I'd re-read the number around twenty times now. I blew out a breath as I dug out my phone and dialed the number. It rang a few time before I heard it pick up.

"Dr. Connors, how may I help you?" His words echoed in my head as I knew what I needed to do. What I had to do.

"It's Beca…I'm in."

xxx

A/N: Thank you to every single one of you who has either reviewed/favorited/followed/read, it truly means the world and I appreciate every last one of them :)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry it's been so long without an update, ever since college started it's been hard to sit down and focus on writing among all other things that life throws at you. Not sure if anyone is still interested in this fic or not since I published it in May and there was been countless other Spidey!Beca stories…let me know if I should continue or not. Anyway! Just an ICYMI: Dr. Connors is Beca's dad, AKA Dr. Mitchell from the movie.

 **Flashback to the Night of the bombing: 8:30 p.m.**

 _Beca walked down the hallway of the hospital, heading to the room that Jesse was staying in. She rubbed her eyes, trying to fight the drowsiness she was feeling. She'd got a text from Chloe around an hour ago saying that she was home and everything was okay._

 _Beca had just left her father's house after spending the majority of the evening there, talking, deciding…going over everything. They'd meet up again the following morning to begin Beca's training. It was only as she was going to leave that he showed her the inventions._

 _She stopped in front of the large door and knocked gently, hearing Jesse yell for her to come in._

" _Hey Osborn." She teased as she walked over to his bedside._

" _Hey Mitchell." He chuckled as she leaned forward with her arms open._

" _Damn, I had to have a near death experience to get a Beca Mitchell hug?" He teased, earning him a swift punch in his bicep as Beca broke the hug._

" _Jackass." She mumbled as she took a seat in one of the plastic chairs. Jesse adjusted his pillows as she sat up._

" _How're you feeling?"_

" _I'm fine, just a bump. I've already tried convincing them to let me leave, but no luck." He crossed his arms over his chest as Beca nodded. "How's Chloe doing?"_

" _She says she's okay. They let her leave a little bit ago-"_

" _They let her leave?! What the hell, let me go to!" Beca chuckled at his tantrum as he grumbled._

" _In all seriousness Jesse, " Beca spoke as she played with her fingers. "Thank you for what you did. You saved her." They locked eyes as realization of what could have happened began to sink in._

" _Hey, don't be getting all soft on me Mitchell. Chloe was already in here crying on my chest, I don't think I can handle you too." They two laughed softly at his way of lightening the mood. "But you know I'd do anything for you guys."_

" _We're a family." Beca agreed as Jesse nodded._

 _It was later that Jesse let her know that Jesse's family doctor had been unable to reach his dad, Dr. Osborn. This only agitated Jesse more, concerned for his father's safety. What if he was injured in the attack? Or worse? The thoughts swarmed Jesse's mind ad Beca tried everything she could to settle him._

 **1 day after Times Square bombing.**

 **Dr. Connors/Beca's Biological Dad's House**

 **Present Day**

"This is insane! I fucking hit the target! It barely grazed that civilian dude!" Beca huffed in irritation as once again her father hit the red button on the panel board and the virtual targets disappeared. The virtual reality room appeared around her as she ripped the simulator glasses off.

"You're thinking too much! Just relax. Feel…don't think. Trust your instincts Beca." Her father's voice came over the speakers that lined the room, however it fell on deaf ears as Beca rolled her eyes.

"I _feel_ like this isn't working…" Beca muttered under her breath as she rubbed her temples. Dr. Connors watched as his daughter grew restless with the simulations. He walked out of the control room and walked over to an irritated Beca who was playing with the straps on her web shooters.

"Hey…" He approached her as he placed his hands on her biceps, causing her to look up at him.

"I can't do this. This was a mistake, I'm not cut out for-"

"Beca. Stop." He cut off her rambling with a firm tone as she tightened her jaw. "I know you can do this. I believe in your abilities…but that isn't going to mean anything until you believe in yourself." Beca swiped at her nose as she looked up to him. The two looked between each other for a few seconds before Beca slowly nodded.

"Start it up again." Beca demanded as she took a deep breath and placed the glasses back over her eyes. Dr. Connors smiled brightly at her as he squeezed her arms encouragingly. He turned on his heel and re-entered the control room.

Beca shook out her nerves as she rolled her neck to the side and back again.

"You can do this." Beca whispered to herself. "Feel. Feel. Feel." She repeated to herself, trying to muster up her confidence. She swung her arms by her side trying to gather herself in preparation for the drills,

"Simulation is now online." Beca watched as the green room faded from view and instead she found herself in a dimly lit, abandoned warehouse.

 **XXXX**

"You did really well today Beca, you've accomplished all the basics." Dr. Connors commented as he took a seat at the mahogany dining room table. Beca followed through the archway as she placed her arms on the back of the chair, leaning against it.

"Do you think I'm ready? You know, to stop him?" Beca nodded to the newspaper that sat between them on the table. On the cover was the latest picture Tom Brock of the Daily Bugle had taken of the masked menace, coined as the 'Green Goblin' by J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of the newspaper. Dr. Connors followed her line of sight as he picked up the paper carefully and examined it. He flipped through the pages as images of destruction filled his eyes from the Times Square bombing yesterday afternoon. Buildings being blown up and destroyed, the people of New York lying injured in the streets, and the police being unable to stop the Green Goblin from the terror he was causing.

"You're the only one who can stop him Beca." Dr. Connors said honestly, setting the paper back down. He crossed his hands in front of him as Beca laughed bitterly and shook her head in disbelief. "With the spider-serum now merged into your DNA…these new abilities are what will aid you in stopping him…" A few moments paced between them in silence. Dr. Connors's eyes were focused on his daughter and Beca's were trained on the yellow eyes that haunted the front page of the Daily Bugle.

"I know I've been hard you about your training…I just want to ensure that you're ready. So that I can help you prepare in any way I can. The suit, the webbing… it will all help you in stopping him, but it's all going to come down to your training; adjusting to the new agility and strength, learning to trust your spider sense…that is what will make the difference."

"Yeah, I know…it's just hard to, everything that's happened…its crazy." Beca mumbled as she thought back to the crazy events that have unfolded in the past week.

' _Jesse would have a field day with all this; it was like the plot of an action movie.'_

The aftermath of the bombings had really put a new perspective into Beca's thoughts and actions. This Green Goblin guy needed stopped and it was clear that the NYPD weren't going to be able to do it. This was personal to Beca now, on so many different levels. Both his and Beca's DNA had been genetically altered, thanks to Oscorp. He's attacked Times Square, where all of her friends were at, where they could have been killed. Chloe and Jesse could have been killed because of him. Beca's blood pressure rose at the thought. She'd never been more thankful to have Jesse and Chloe in her life. She had to stop this Green Goblin guy and fast, before he hurt someone else she cared about. First Uncle Ben being murdered, now Jesse and Chloe in the hospital…she had to do SOMETHING with these new powers of hers.

 _ **FLASHBACK TO NIGHT OF THE BOMBING. DR. CONNORS HOUSE AFTER BECA ARRIVES.**_

" _Come with me!" Dr. Connors grabbed Beca by her bicep as he dragged her behind him, leading them both down the hallway of his house._

" _Whoa dude!" Beca exclaimed ripping her arm out of his grasp with ease. "What is going on?!" Dr. Connors ignored her as he stopped in front of the bookshelf. He grabbed the spines of the various books and tossed them to the floor behind him, clearing out the entire third shelf. Beca's jaw dropped as she saw a hidden keypad built into the back wall of the shelf._

" _No way. This is not happening…" Beca mumbled to herself. Dr. Connors entered the numeric code '1105'. Beca wanted to smile at the number sequence. 11 05. November 5th, her birthday. Maybe her dad wasn't as all bad as she wanted him to be. The bookcase opened up into the false wall. Concrete blocks lined the stairway that descended into a darkened basement._

" _Follow me."_

 _Dr. Connors led them down the spiral staircase and automatically, the room lit up. Beca stood frozen in awe as she looked around the room. Along the concrete walls were various shelving units and cabinets that held different gadgets and tools._

" _Whoa." Beca blew out as she looked around carefully._

" _These…are my inventions, the last I could save before I left Oscorp." Dr. Connors said proudly as he followed closely behind Beca, who was taking everything in._

" _This…this is insane!" Beca exclaimed as she walked over to a glass showcase. Hung inside was what appeared to be a red and blue spandex suit as well as a mask and boots. Right in the middle of the chest was a large black spider logo stitched into the material. The rest of the suit had black spider webs traced over the pattern and the mask had reflective white lens, to which she could see herself in them._

" _What is all this stuff for?" Beca asked as she studied the suit in more detail._

" _It was originally designed for the test subjects that were going to be injected with the serum. We designed gadgets and weapons for the subject to use against enemies. These weapons, as well as the armor suit, were designed with the spider serum in mind."_

" _Weapons for what?" Beca asked confused._

" _Oscorp was in the process of developing the United State's leading technology for modern warfare. We were creating super soldiers." Dr. Connors told her as he began to unlock the glass display cases. Beca watched as he took out what looked like two large watches as he handed one of them to her._

" _These are your web-shooters." He explained as he showed Beca how to put them on. They were small enough to look likes watches to the average person._

" _This right here-" He pointed to the sensor resting in his palm. "Press this to activate them. The harder you press, the more web that comes out and at a higher velocity. It's also pressure sensitive to just two fingers, so when you make a fist, it's not going to set them off. I will also program it to only allow you to use them, I'll get a press of your fingertips later, in the meantime…" Dr. Connors trailed off as he raised his wrist and aimed at the far concrete wall. Beca watched closely as he used his middle and ring fingers to press the trigger sensor. Instantly a webbing shot out and stuck towards the wall._

" _Holy fuck!" Beca exclaimed in amazement as her eyes grew in excitement._

" _Beca…" He scolded softly._

" _Sorry, but holy crap dude! This is awesome!" Beca aimed at the wall also and pressed, sending a line of webbing across the room._

" _The webbing I helped develop at Oscorp, it's high intensity biocable, one cartridge can hold 1 mile's worth of webbing. Also, if you press these two buttons on the side-" Dr. Connors demonstrated on the one he was wearing, as he pressed on the side buttons, the trigger in his palm retracted into the base of the shooter. "It will go into the chamber for you to wear them without raising any eyebrows."_

 _Beca followed his steps and watched as when she pressed the buttons the trigger would appear and disappear._

" _Next up. Your suit." He walked over to the large glass case containing the protection suit. "This suit is designed to protect you as well as to keep your identity a secret. Made up of a layer of nanofiber and al-"_

" _Spandex." Beca cut him off as she eyed the suit questionably. "Because nothing says covert like bright red and blue spandex."_

" _The colors were chosen to correspond with the American flag, which is why the eye lens' are white. And yes, the spandex allows easier movement to give your agility a boost._

" _Of course it does." Beca took the suit from him as she held it up and looked at it carefully._

" _The spandex also is super light-weight and allows for it to be worn under most everyday clothes. You'll notice in the sleeves is a space for your web-shooters and there is a small pocket on your hip to carry extra web cartridges._

" _I can't believe I'm going to swinging around New York City in fucking Spandex." Beca said in disbelief as she breathed out. "All of this is insane, literally all of it!" Beca ran her hand through her hair. "This is my life now."_

 **PRESENT DAY – CHLOE POV**

I watched as Aubrey was finishing wrapping up Bellas rehearsal with some ending vocal exercises. I was sitting on one of the chairs of the choir room, restricted from participating because of yesterday. It was still a little hard for me to breathe, but it just felt as though I lost my breath easier.

"Okay Bellas 'Ah' on 3!" Aubrey told everyone as I jumped up to join in the group. "1…2…Ahhhh!"

"Great job today girls!" I encouraged them as everyone began to gather up their things to head home, it was getting close to 6 o'clock and everyone was eager to get out of the school for the day.

"How're you feeling Chlo?" Aubrey placed her hand on my back as I turned around to face her.

"I'm okay Bree." I said with a smile, I squeezed her hand to reassure her as she forced a smile back.  
"Stop worrying so much."

Once we had grabbed our things, Bree and I walked through the metal doors of the choir room and out into the Creative Arts hallway. The sun was setting outside as the final rays were shining through the windows of the school. Aubrey's phone chimed as she reached into her bag to grab it.

"Jesse texted me." Aubrey face lit up as she texted back a reply.

"Oooohhh!" I teased her as I bumped her hip playfully. "Look who's in Trebleeeee!" I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Oh hush it! You and Beca are no better!" She said rolling her eyes.

"So you have no room to talk about 'toners' then!" I argued as I raised my eyebrows at her as she tried to challenge me.

"Fine-" She grumbled, "-but still, she's automatically on my shit list if she hurts you."

"And same goes for Jesse. Now we both just need to get them to actually do something about it." I sighed out in frustration. I stopped at my locker and began to enter the combination, Aubrey leaned against the wall beside me.

"They're both too oblivious to anything going on around them." Aubrey complained as she rolled her eyes. I giggled softly as I grabbed my books to do homework.

"Look who it is! My favorite birds!" Bree and I both turned but we already knew who it was. Walking up to us as confidently as ever was Luke Morgan, the foreign exchange student from England. He smiled brightly at us and waved. Luke was the hottest guy at the school, put his amazing good looks, his accent and his muscles together…every girl was throwing themselves at him. Aubrey and I had been assigned to help out Luke when he first moved here 2 years ago. Getting him use to the school and helping him if he needed it, we had been pretty close back then.

"It's been ages love." He told me as he politely pecked my cheek and then Aubrey's. "So tell me, who's too oblivious to notice you, they must be moronic?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his plain grey t-shirt tight. Luke was like our big brother, always looking out for our best interest, it wasn't rare when he went protective.

"Actually, you know them well! Both of them work for you." I laughed at the irony and hugged my books to my chest.

"Becky and Jesse!? No fucking way!" He dropped his jaw as he rubbed his chin. "Jesse too big a baby to do anything-"

"Hey now! Take it-" Aubrey started to defend Jesse as Luke laughed and put his hands up defensively.

"Easy Aubrey, you know he's not gonna make a move without a push." He turned to look at me. "I woulda thought Becky would have done _something_ by now Red." He was shocked as he began to think.

"You and me both." Luke extended his finger at me as an idea came to him.

"I got it! Becky's working tonight in the station, so I'll let you come with me, see if I can get her to make a move for ya!" He winked at me as he nodded, believing his plan was bulletproof.

"That's-actually not a bad idea Luke." I agreed as I got excited at the thought of seeing Beca in her element. "Thank you." I stepped forward and hugged him.

"Sorry I couldn't be much help for you tonight Aubrey." He apologized as Aubrey nodded, understandingly.

"It's perfectly okay Luke, I guess I'll catch up with you both later?" We all said our good-byes as I walked down the end of the hallway towards the school's radio station. Once we got to the main door, I peered inside and saw Beca already at work, stacking some CD's on the shelves. The second door opened obnoxiously and Beca didn't bother looking up.

"Hey Luke, some dude called in asking if you'd- oh. Hey Chlo." Beca took notice and froze in place for a second. I laughed softly from behind Luke who was already smirking.

"Hey Becky, ran into Chloe here thought I'd be a good boss and bring you some company for the night." Beca nodded as put the last CD case she was holding on the shelf.

"Anyway, I'm gonna head out, my girlfriend and I have a date and if I'm late, I'm a dead man." He grabbed his leather jacket off the back of one of the chairs beside the desk as he put it on.

"Becky remember to finish the stack of CDs and make sure the queue stays filled." He told her as she did a mock salute as I covered my mouth and sniggered. Luke was on his way out when he turned back to us.

"Oh and one more thing, no sex on the desk…I've been burned before. Have fun!" With that he left and Beca's face was beat red.

"Wow okay…that wasn't weird at all." She said as I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment. She cleared her throat as I peeked through my eyes and we both started laughing all over again.

"So how'd you manage to get Luke to let you in here, he only let's us." She raised her eyebrows at me and began to walk towards the booth. I followed her through the aisles of music as I heard Metro Station's 'Shake It' playing through the speakers.

"We're actually really good friends." I told her as she sat at the desk and began to press various knobs and buttons.

"Right 'friends'." Beca teased as she smirked at me. I gasped at her as I swung and hit her on the arm. "Didn't see you as the aggressor here Beale!"

 _Now if she does it like this,_

 _Will you do it like that?_

"Sounds like you're just jealous to me Becs." I played back at her as flipped my hair over my shoulder and put a hand on my hip. She squinted her eyes at me, challenging me. Beca Mitchell never backed down from a challenge.

"I am so not jealous." She told me as she turned back to the numerous screens in front of us. She seemed content with the tracks as she stood up and walked over to where I stood by the door.

 _Now if she touches like this_

 _Will you touch her like that?_

She stopped right in front of me as she looked between my eyes and smirked. I could see a hint of scheming in her blue eyes as I waited on her move. "If anything, he should be jealous of me." She whispered back to me.

"Why's that?" I breathed out, watching how her lips parted ever so slightly.

"Because I'm here with you, and he isn't. I have you all to myself tonight." She told me seriously as she looked up at me, her eyes in a straight stare. My breath hitched as she reached out and hooked her fingers around my belt loops and pulled my flush against her. She must have gotten taller without me realizing because we were eye to eye.

 _Now if she moves like this_

 _Will you move her like that?_

I could feel my breath becoming labored. This was the side of Beca that I loved, the confident side. The sexy side. I could feel my body getting warm from how close we were and at the situation itself. _I hope Luke was kidding about the desk._

Beca tucked a strand of hair behind my ear with her right hand and leaned forward. Her lips brushed against my cheek as her breath caught my ear. Her left hand was resting against the base of my neck, keeping me still and her right was placed on my hip.

"And I know your lady jam. Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" I could hear the arrogance in her tone as I huffed out in frustration. Beca laughed as she backed away from me and I could finally catch my breath. Beca strutted over to the keys, moving her hips to please my eyes that followed her.

"Beca Mitchell you are such a tease!"

 _Come on, shake, shake_

 _Shake, shake, shake it_

End of Chapter 9

Next chapter we will finally get a Bechloe kiss, the appearance of Spider-Girl, and more!

Let me know what you liked/ didn't like!


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